24.05.2013

Ball to leave Easi UpLifts

John Ball, managing director of the Irish based international rental group Height For Hire/Easi Uplifts, has announced his intention to resign in order pursue other business interests.
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John Ball

Ball, 52, started his career as a teacher, joining Height For Hire in 1986 when he opened its Limerick branch. In 1993 he was appointed managing director of Height For Hire when it had just three branches, all of them in Ireland.

In the 1990s, he was directly involved, with founder Harry McArdle, in the company’s expansion into Belfast, Northern Ireland and Glasgow, Scotland. Within a few years a further four branches were opened in the UK. In 2008 he successfully finalised negotiations on the company’s first acquisition, the rental company SCS in Slovakia. This company has now been fully integrated into the Easi UpLifts group and has four locations in Central Europe.

A past president of IPAF (2008 to 2010), he was instrumental in organising the first IPAF Summit outside of the UK when he helped host it in Dublin and has been a long term and very active council and board member.

Speaking of his decision Ball said: “I have been associated with Height For Hire/Easi UpLifts for close to 30 years now, 20 of them as managing director. It has been a great privilege to work with such a dedicated team over that time and I sincerely thank them for their support. I am extremely fortunate to work with one of the industry’s greatest pioneers, Harry McArdle, whose significant lifelong contribution to the access industry was justifiably recognised in Miami earlier this year. His friendship and advice is something I will continue to value in the years ahead. I leave at a time when the company has built up a strong management team to bring it to the next stage of growth. I wish them great success in their endeavours.”

McArdle added: “John’s energy and dynamism have contributed significantly to the growth and success of the group within the access industry and for this I thank him and wish him all the best as he pursues other business interests.”

Vertikal Comment

This is a shock

John Ball is as much a part of Height for Hire/Easi UpLifts as founder Harry McArdle, in the 1990s the two of them made a formidable negotiating team that always managed to obtain the very best prices for the equipment they wanted.

The two also travelled very extensively, visiting trade shows and industry events looking for new ideas and gauging the prevailing mood of the market. Information which they used very effectively in their business strategies, often buying big at the very bottom of the market and riding the full duration of any upward cycle. Then sensing and calling the top while others were just getting ready to expand into the rapidly vanishing upward trend.

In recent years a new generation of managers has begun to take on some of the responsibilities previously handled by Ball and McArdle, although the two are still key players in every element of the business.

Ball will be missed – no question about it – he will also miss the business enormously. There is a good young team in place though, keen to show what they can do, with one of the canniest individuals in the industry as chairman. So he leaves the business in fine fettle and well able to adapt to his departure.

A shrewd investor in his own right he will not be short of opportunities, or be overly concerned about his next job. If he leaves the industry though his absence will most certainly be felt.