OUR STORY
OUR STORY
We’re a company passionate about lifting, with a team of technical experts who learn something new everyday.
It’s been over 25 years since Steve Thacker, Founder of Ranger, and his former business partners started this business and named it after his favourite English soccer team. In that time, so much about Ranger has changed but so much has remained the same. While the Ranger of today looks a little different, the three most important things have remained the same.
We’re a family business built on strong foundations.
Being a family business sets us apart and we are proud of our family-run ethos and culture. It allows us to work together with a sense of trust and support and provides us the opportunity to operate in the long term.
We believe in Service Through Knowledge.
That means we’re always developing our knowledge and expertise in lifting, rigging and safety and sharing it with our clients. It’s more than our Company mantra – it’s a way of life.
We take safety seriously.
‘Don’t gamble with your lifting gear’ and we mean it. We’re passionate about industry professionals going home to their families at the end of the shift and work hard to ensure clients understand the potential dangers of working with lifting equipment.
We are always trying to improve our business and our people so that we can offer more value to clients.
We‘re not interested in what our competitors are doing, we‘re interested in understanding what our customers need from us and how we can deliver. As a business we are focused on disrupting the lifting industry. We are here to challenge the way things have always been done. We take safety seriously and we invest more than anyone in our industry on creating digital resources and educational tools to improve safety standards in Australia.
Our experienced team are currently servicing some of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects as well as clients who have been with us since the beginning. We are excited to deliver the Ranger ethos of Service Through Knowledge to clients in the Australian market.
Our business is focused on:
What does that mean for our customers?
We are an Australian owned business providing specialist lifting, rigging and safety solutions to clients in the Mining, Civil, Construction and Rail Industries as well as Government sectors.
OUR HISTORY
1998
In 1998, founder Steve Thacker, and his former business partners Shane and Brian, started Ranger Industrial, an industrial supply company named after their favourite English soccer team, the Queen’s Park Rangers.
2002
Ashley Thacker, Steve’s son, joins the company and the team grows to five. Ranger moves into it’s own factory in Arndell Park NSW and acquires Western Chain Company. In 2005 the first wire rope press and test bed is purchased.
2006
The company outgrows it’s home and moves to a large warehouse, also in Arndell Park. The first mobile test trailer is designed and commissioned. In 2008 Ranger again outgrows the facility and acquires adjacent property.
2009
The financial crisis hits the business and industry hard. Ranger retain all staff and fight to survive four years of economic turmoil, selling safety gear as the lifting market takes a prolonged downturn. During this time the supplier network is expanded globally and starts to send staff overseas to undergo industry-leading training.
2009
Ashley becomes General Manager and Ranger rebrands with a new focus on technical service rather than product supply only. Ranger makes the decision to become game-changing pioneers and lead industry rather than follow competitors. A dedicated QA Manager is recruited.
2011
Ranger becomes the first company in Australia to be awarded full LEEA membership and also receives accreditation from the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA). Ranger also beings attending LEEA’s LiftEx show and so began a journey of forging relationships, making lifelong friends with global suppliers and industry colleagues.
2012
In 2012 Ranger commissions state-of-the-art E-Test Inspect, a web-based data management system for easy record keeping and full traceability of height safety equipment.
2013
In 2013 Ranger received NATA accreditation for Inspection ISO/IEC 17020:2012 which assured that our teams were qualified, sufficiently trained and experienced. It also means that our equipment is properly calibrated and maintained and we have adequate testing and quality assurance procedures.
2015
Ranger wins our first contract on a major infrastructure projects on the M2 upgrade
2018
Due to demand during the infrastructure boom, Ranger branch out of NSW and open an office in Melbourne quickly becoming a key player in the Victorian market
2018
Ranger celebrate their 20th Anniversary in style with a party to celebrate the milestone and the opening of our brand new head office in Prestons NSW.
2018
Ranger win the inaugural Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) Customer Service Award presented to Ashley Thacker at the LEEA Awards in the UK.
2020
Covid 19 hits and causes worldwide chaos. Ranger make the most of the downtime to plan for the business, invest in training, develop new resources and build and online training course.
2021
Ranger expand into Queensland and open and new office in South East Queensland. Our new Darra branch starts servicing clients across Queensland and quickly becomes a trusted supplier to some of Queensland’s leading infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
2022
Three generations of Thacker’s spend the day at Ranger HQ with Steve, his son Ashley and grandson Jackson working together to finalise end of financial year.
2023
Our MD, Ashley Thacker wins the inaugural Industry Leader award at the global LEEA Awards in Liverpool for recognition of his leadership in business and the lifting industry.
2023
Ranger Lifting celebrates winning the Family Business Association 2023 Established Business (NSW & ACT) Award.
2024
Ranger become a LEEA Accredited Training Supplier and launch Australia’s only LEEA Accredited Training Course for end-users.
2024
Ranger relaunches RIG, Ranger Inspection Gateway, an online inspection software for clients 24/7 traceability for all your lifting equipment and height safety assets.
2024
Ranger open another branch in Newcastle, New South Wales to service existing and new clients in the Hunter Valley and northern New South Wales.