Thank you, Kevin; and welcome Andy

Kevin Appleton has written his final column in the November-December issue of International Rental News (IRN) after more than 60 articles over a nine-year period.

At the same time, we are delighted to announce that his replacement will be Andy Wright, the CEO of Sunbelt Rentals UK, whose first column will appear in the Jan-Feb issue.

Kevin Appleton.

Kevin, who started writing for the magazine in April 2012, has decided that now is a good time to call a halt. He will remain active in the industry in a number of board-level roles and may write the occasional article for IRN in the future.

“The thing I appreciate most about the rental business at its best, is the down-to-earth style of its people and their courage to take bold decisions to get things done”, said Kevin in his final column.

“I can assure readers that this combination is far from a given across the many other industries in which I work and is something we should do our absolute best to protect and cultivate.”

IRN is enormously grateful to Kevin for his thoughtful and gently provocative articles since 2012.

Andy Wright, CEO of Sunbelt Rentals UK and new columnist for IRN.

Andy Wright, who has been active in rental for several decades working for companies including Lavendon, Aggreko and Speedy, and now as CEO of Sunbelt Rentals UK, said he was delighted to be taking on the columnist role.

“I’ll be addressing the current issues in this changing sector, providing a senior operational perspective on the significant challenges that all aspects of the industry will face, given the seismic changes happening now and in the future.

“I’d like to think that I will provide food for thought, as well as raise some debate amongst the rental community. And of course, this is also a good opportunity for me to emphasise that this column is written from my personal viewpoint and does not represent the official view of Sunbelt Rentals or Ashtead Group.”

The magazine thanks Andy for taking on the columnist role and we wish him the best of luck.