After connecting with our amazing teams and valued customers across Australia and New Zealand, our Executive General Manager, Gareth Hirst, is energised and prepared to lead Rondo into an exciting future of continued growth and success.
“Rondo is a great company where our wonderful people and customers are our strengths. We’re built on a strong foundation of unparalleled engineered design solutions accompanied by a comprehensive, high quality product range. Customers rely on us for our consistency, I think they will be excited to see how else Rondo can contribute to our relationships when we truly challenge ourselves”.
Before joining Rondo, Gareth dedicated eight years to JELD-WEN, where he held the roles of Vice President at TREND Windows and Doors and General Manager at Corinthian Doors. In these positions, he led more than 1,000 people combined in manufacturing, distribution, sales, and marketing functions, with a strong emphasis on safety, team development, customer relationships, and performance.
Throughout his impressive 18-year tenure at BlueScope Steel, Gareth excelled in diverse management roles, encompassing strategy, sales, operations, and technical, whilst studying and completing an Executive MBA at AGSM.
In the early stages of his career, Gareth immersed himself in engineering, accumulating five years of invaluable experience at BHP Billiton, which later became BlueScope Steel. During this time, he finished his Bachelor of Engineering with Honours, majoring in Materials Engineering.
Gareth's extensive background in the steel and building materials sectors, combined with his learning in business management and engineering, equip him well in guiding Rondo into a future of growth and innovation.
“Ever since I was an engineering cadet at BHP (later BlueScope Steel), I knew the name Rondo due to Rondo’s importance to BlueScope as a leading manufacturer in the building products space. After leaving BlueScope and spending 8 years honing people management skills through leading businesses within JELD-WEN, I couldn’t help but jump at the opportunity to come back to steel and lead such an iconic business as Rondo”.
Beyond his professional life, Gareth is strongly supported by his wife Jodie and two boys, Oliver and Liam. He enjoys spending time with his family outdoors, where you’ll often find them hiking or mountain bike riding. For Gareth, this underscores the significance of workplace safety, because every employee should return home safely so that they can enjoy moments with their loved ones.
“Employee well-being isn’t a strategy, it is a way of life. A core value underpinning everything we do at Rondo is ensuring the health and safety of our employees. At Rondo we recommit ourselves to this core value daily. Above all else, it is the commitment of Rondo’s leadership team that no employee feels unsafe in their work environment, and they return safely to their families.”
We’re happy to have Gareth on board leading Rondo as we head into 60 years of supplying unrivalled steel wall and ceiling solutions.