A Decade of Making the Block Contestants’ Job Easy(er)!

Our 75th anniversary isn’t the only major milestone we get to celebrate this year; it also happens to be Kennards Hire’s 10th year of being the ‘Official Hire Equipment Supplier’ of The Block! 

Whilst we’ve been supplying quality equipment to the home renovation series since its inception, in 2012, the fifth season of The Block, Keith the Foreman came into a Melbourne branch to hire some equipment for the local site. A few conversations later and a hand shake agreement with Area Manager, Shane Reilly the rest, as they say, is history. 

Over the years, reliability and trust has been key in building the relationship with Channel 9 and The Block production team, not to mention the excellent customer service and advice our local teams and on-site experts provide the contestants.

It has been the perfect pairing; with our fantastic team of over 1,600 employees at over 170 branches across Australia alone, giving Tradies and DIYers the expert advice and equipment they need to make their job easy, who better to provide hire equipment to a TV series that shows what everyday Aussies can achieve?

To help The Block contestants produce the beautiful homes they work hard to covert from derelict to divine, over the past decade we’ve supplied thousands of pieces of equipment, small and big. From scaffolding and diggers, ladders and framing guns, airless paint sprays and heaters, The Block contestants have used almost every type of equipment Kennards Hire has to offer. Last season, in Gisborne South in the Macedon Ranges, we even built an on-site branch to provide the most convenient access to our equipment possible.

But have we given much more than just our equipment? Ken Oath we have!

Each season, Kennards Hire provides an on-site expert who is available at all hours of the day (and in some cases night!) to support contestants and tradies with expert advice on the best equipment to use and tutorials on how to use it safely, effectively, and efficiently. 

Team members such as Ben McTaggart, Sebastian Anastasi, Mousa Ghosn, Claude Assoum, and, this year’s on-site expert, Dave Wrigley (just to name a few) have become so integrated into The Block experience, they have become TV personalities themselves, often appearing in The Block segments.

In fact, our obsession with providing excellent customer service even led former contestant Anna Scarff to admit she thought Sebastian was a contestant for the first couple of weeks because of the amount of time he spent on-site.

Lance Hawes, General Manager Victoria, said the partnership was the perfect mirror of the company’s commitment to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

“Our partnership with The Block showcases the fact that we’re not just an equipment hire company; we are a team of solutions experts,” he said.

“Our dedicated on-site team member makes it their goal to ensure that they are there 24/7 because, in a competition as tough as this, the contestants never knew when they’d need an airless sprayer for a big paint job, a space heater to ensure the paint dries in time, or any new piece of equipment for an unexpected problem.

“We also gave them advice on the equipment they would need to renovate a particular room, as well as tips on how to complete the job safely and efficiently, not unlike the advice we give to our customers when they come in to a branch ask for our help.

Julian Cress, co-creator and executive producer of The Block, said he appreciates the support Kennards Hire has provided for the past decade.

“Over the past 10 years, Kennards Hire’s ‘fair-dinkum’ attitude and expert advice has contributed to the success of The Block and helped to inspire a new generation of DIYers and tradies. Not only has the Kennards Hire team provided the best equipment to get the job done, over the years they’ve gone above and beyond to help our contestants understand how to use and get the best from all hire equipment,” Julian said.

“At its core, The Block is about a group of DIYers completing their own renovation projects, and we want to show everyday Australians that they can achieve the same thing with the right equipment and the right guidance. That’s why we knew Kennards Hire would be the perfect choice for the job, and ten years later we’re proud to celebrate this important milestone.

Kennards Hire wishes the best of luck to Kyle and Leslie, Leah and Ash, Kristy and Brett, Steph and Gian, and Eliza and Liberty who are all working their hardest to complete some of the toughest projects we’ve seen on The Block. We can’t wait to see how each pair fairs at the end of season auction.

Tune in to watch the Wednesday, 18 October episode to see our Kennards Hire team celebrating 75 years with The Block contestants!

You can watch each episode of The Block live on Channel 9 at 7:00pm on Sundays and 7:30pm Monday-Wednesday, or if you want to catch up on an episode, you can view all previous episodes in full here.