b'CHAPTER 07BUILDING THE CULTURE | 89In 2020, an upset occurred when the award was wonSometimes the epic efforts that staff go to for the by the remote Kununurra branch in Western Australiaawards night can have an unexpected outcome. One year near the border of the Northern Territory. It was thethere was a Top Gun theme, and a mountain of props first time a regional branch had taken out the award,had been delivered to the high-rise building hosting but it wasnt a first for branch manager Scott Vidler,the event. The propsincluding ammunition belts, nor was it a fluke. A Kennards Hire success story, Scottreplica bombs, munitions cases, camouflage gear and had worked his way up from being a service driver toother military paraphernaliawere temporarily stored branch manager. He was part of the Kellyville teamin the basement. This happened not long after some when it won in 1997, which saw the staff go on a holidayhigh-profile terrorist attacks overseas, so a concerned to Vanuatu for a week of fishing. Scott wanted to givecitizen reported the suspicious-looking pile to the police, that experience to the people who now worked for him.and it could have had a whole city block closed off had He says that heading up his own team to take out thethere not been some very swift explanations!coveted award twenty-two years later was one of his proudest achievements. Scott and his team planned hard for the win, first becoming number one in Western Australia, then sweeping the pool. State managers go all-out for the occasion. Asset onboarding manager Noeleen Smith fondly remembers a South Australian awards night with a 1920s theme. We made our own silent movie, culminating in a huge foam pie fight after work hours and the next day there was great drifts of shaving cream still floating around the equipment yard, she laughs.Over that beer, they mapped out a different approach: turnthe whole thing into a competition culminating in an awards night, with the champion branch winning a prize allthe staff could enjoy.'