eKourier Jan 2020

Kennards Kourier u EDITION: JANUARY 2020

LOCKED UP SINCE 1983 SUPER AND WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME BACK TO OUR ROOTS

WHY DO HUMANS FEEL THE NEED TO DIG A HOLE?

MILE END TRANSFORMS

WHO’S WHO

TEAM MEMBER PROFILES

IN THIS ISSUE Team Member Profiles

Melanie Owubokiri Centre Manager Mt Eden NZ

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10 Questions With...

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Why Do Humans Feel The Need?

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Career background: Fashion Design at university and worked in fashion/retail. Also worked as a Sales Assistant.

Locked Up Since 1983

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Do’s, Don’ts, Might 5 An Overview - NZ Online Audience 6 Back To Our Roots 7 Google Reviews 8 The Power Of Routines 9 Super And What’s In It For Me 10 Insurance - Valuable Benefit... 11 Mile End Transforms 12 What The Tech? 13 KSS Christmas Cheer 14/15/16 Spotlight On... 17 What’s In The Pipeline 18 Our Learning At Kennards 19 Magic Moments At Christmas 20 Air Borne Aid 20 When The Street Lights Came On... 21 Nevs Notes 22 Kennards Community 23 NEXT ISSUE Deadline: February 28, 2020 Editor: Sharon Munro Email: sharon@kss.com.au Distribution: April 17, 2020 UPCOMING EVENTS 26/1 - Australia Day - NSW/VIC/QLD/ACT/SA - PH hours 20/1 - Wellington Anniversary Day - Wellington - PH hours. Palmerston North closed. All other NZ centres open 27/1 - Auckland Anniversary Day - Mt Eden/Three Kings PH hours. Tauranga NZ - closed. All other NZ centres open 6/2 - Waitangi Day NZ - Mt Eden/Three Kings/ Wellington - PH hours. All other NZ centres closed 9/3 - Adelaide Cup - SA PH hours 9/3 - Canberra Day - ACT PH hours 5/4 - Daylight Savings Ends NSW, VIC, SA, ACT, NZ 10/4 - Good Friday - KSS Closed 11/4 - Easter Saturday - Normal trading hours 12/4 - Easter Sunday - Normal trading hours 13/4 - Easter Monday - AUS - PH hours. Mt Eden/ Three Kings/ Wellington - PH hours. All other NZ centres closed 25/4 - ANZAC Day - KSS Closed

Marital status? De Facto relationship with Jonathan.

Any children? No kids yet, but I do have a lovely seven years old sister back in Brazil. We both love to dance and do choreographies together. Hobbies/interests: Making things from scratch like candles, soap and chocolate. Also going out with friends and travel with my partner.

Do you play any sport or have any special talents? Not good at any sport, but I do enjoy having a go. I wish I knew how to sing, so does my partner, poor him! Favourite book: The Girl Before, by J P Delaney. Favourite movie: I don’t have a favourite; can I say Netflix! Favourite restaurant/food: I like to go to all you can eat Steak restaurants. Where did you grow up? I was born and raised in Brazil and used to travel a lot as a kid because my dad was a professional Soccer Player. Any pets? No, but would like a dog! Favourite holiday destinations: I’ve been to Brazil, Argentina and Chile with my partner. Visited Morro de Sao Paulo (based in Bahia, Brazil).

Kate Crisp Assistant Manager Murarrie QLD

Career background: Prior to Kennards I taught water safety to children ages 2-16 whilst also working in hospitality management. Marital status? In a happy relationship with my partner Levi. Any children? No human children but I do have three fur children, a pure white Siberian Husky called Leonardo and two cats; Ralph and Haymish. I also have a five year old turtle called Bunny. Hobbies/interests: Indoor plants and propagating them. I also enjoy spending time with my fur children

and renovating my current home. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? I like being active and just recently competed in the TRL (Touch Rugby League) Australian championships. Favourite book: I don’t read much, the only book I have in my home is a book called The Complete Aussie Backyard and Home Improvement Book. Favourite movie: The Little Rascals. Favourite restaurant/food: Pasta but also sweets, I have a massive sweet tooth. Where did you grow up? I grew up local to Murarrie. I spent most days doing what any kid would do back then, I was outside with my brother and sisters playing. Favourite holiday destinations: I’ve travelled to Austria and China but one place that stands out and that I’d go back to in a heartbeat is New Zealand.

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WHO’S WHO

10 QUESTIONS... With Varsha Samji - Assistant Manager Pymble NSW

me to USA, Spain, France and my latest travel was a trip to Italy covering major tourist sites like Rome, Milan, Assisi, Ostuni, Pompei, Sorrento, Florence, Venice, Capri, Verona, Bolzano, Genoa, Cinque Terre and Lake Maggiore. This Italy trip was the most memorable one I would say. Tell us about your love of cooking and published recipe book? I think I got my passion for cooking from my mum. I published my first cookbook just to share recipes with my relatives and friends as they constantly ask me for recipes for the food I’ve cooked them. A hobby of collecting simple vegetarian recipes became a passion and led to the birth of my cookbook which I named “Recipes from My home Kitchen”. The first book was published in 2005. I then decided to rewrite the book in 2008, adding in new dishes and improving the structure while making the recipes easier to follow. What is your favourite pass time? That would be relaxing and having my favourite cup of Chai/Tea and listening to Hindi music. I love to try new restau- rants and enjoy the company of my friends going out for a meal. I love to entertain too, so drop by for a catch up! To sum up Kennards in one word would be? FANTASTIC! It’s really hard to describe it in one word. The journey here has been excellent. I have learnt a lot at Kennards. I can’t thank everyone here enough for making me feel welcome.

Husband Suresh, Daughter Sanjana and Varsha in Venice

my coming to work a delight and he is someone I look up to.

How long have you been with the Kennards Team? I have been safely stored away at Kennards since September 2014. Have you always been placed at Pymble KSS? I was originally recruited for Pymble but started at Chatswood while waiting for the centre to open. Worked with Steve Jansen, Eric and Flex in the beginning. Managed to get some experience at Brookvale for six days before opening day at Pymble. Then in March last year had the opportunity to work with Terry at Artarmon for six months and then returned home to Pymble. What did you do before KSS? I had quit my last job as a Collection Officer and decided to be a full-time mum to my daughter for 16 years. It took me up to two years of searching after that to finally find employment and I am very grateful that Kennards hired me. What inspires you about working for Kennards? I enjoy doing a variety of jobs here and my opinion matters. There is never a dull moment. A lot of customers are very pleasant and always stop by for a quick chat. It makes my day when I sign up a brand new customer or complete a sale of merchandise. Working with Steve has been wonderful. I enjoy our morning coffee, banter and discuss all issues at hand with ease. Steve has made

Have you always lived in Australia? My family and I are originally from Malaysia. I was born and raised in a small state called Malacca. It’s a place full of history since Malaysia (formerly known as Malaya) was colonised by the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese. We moved to Sydney in June 2007. Tell us about your family? I come from a small family. I have two older brothers and I am the youngest and only girl in the family. I lost my dad when I was 21 and my mum last year in June. Met my husband in Kuala Lumpur where I worked. He is an Engineer by profession and working as a Regional Manager for a power business in Thailand. We are blessed with a daughter Sanjana who is

now 20 and currently pursuing a Biomedical Science major at UTS. We hear you are an avid traveller, where have you visited? Well I have been to different parts of India, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kerala and Ladakh. I also travelled around South East Asia; Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia. Travelling to the west took

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FEATURE

WHY DO HUMANS FEEL THE NEED TO DIG A HOLE ESPECIALLY IN TRUGANINA? Throughout our KSS history of building new storage sites, our relationship with the soil has affected our ability to build and even influenced the future success of our storage facilities.

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THIS PURPOSE-BUILT FACILITY WILL EVENTUALLY BOAST 760 STORAGE UNITS, THE MAKINGS OF ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL KENNARDS DIGGING EXPEDITION

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O ver the years, some of our storage centre designs have been affected by what’s under the ground which ultimately can have an adverse effect on our storage layouts. Undiscovered fuel tanks, contaminated soil, asbestos dumpings, arsenic, tree roots and even bones (it ended up being those of a dog at Kennards Newcastle) to name just a few. Unfortunately, we have never located gold or oil at one of our sites but we’re still trying. When we first commence construction of a new facility, we dig a hole. At every stage of any new KSS building project, there are measures taken to ensure the safety of those involved in a project on-site. We dig for the safety of those working around hidden infrastructure, we dig to ensure soil conditions are adequate, and we dig just for a great photoshoot. Goran Vukovic, Centre

Manager Port Melbourne likes to dig!

fringe thoroughfare to the north of the township and within a developing business warehousing district bordering on a booming residential housing area. Victoria’s second largest Port Phillip maximum security Prison is within sight. Our newest storage centre has a completion date set for Wednesday, 3rd June, 2020. With 7,236 gross floor area and 496 storage units being currently developed and a further 5,576 of land available for future expansion. This purpose-built facility will eventually boast 760 storage units, the makings of another successful Kennards digging expedition. Wayne Birch Operations Manager Vic Front Cover featuring Goran Vukovic, Centre Manager Port Melbourne, onsite at Truganina (digging a hole!)

The digging all starts somewhere and in this case it’s Truganina! We’ve recently started excavation at a new KSS facility in Truganina, a Melbourne suburb 26 km’s west of the CBD precinct and a first for Kennards in the western area of Melbourne. Luckily in this instance after digging we detected nothing in the soil. The suburb of Truganina was named after Truganini who was the last full-blooded ‘Queen’ Aboriginal Tasmanian woman to visit the area. The township (part of the Werribee area and I believe made semi famous by Julia Gillard), is primarily affordable housing with its surrounds being a major growth corridor of Melbourne. Our Truganina Centre (pronounced Trug-gan-ne-na) is located on a major

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FEATURE

LOCKED UP SINCE 1983

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IT IS DIFFICULT TO ARTICULATE HOW VALUABLE HK HAS BEEN TO KSS SINCE STARTING WITH MY DAD IN 1983. THERE HAS BEEN AN UNWAVERING LOYALTY AND SUPPORT

truly transformative. HK believed that this massive takeover was good for KSS and the Team would also successfully execute the integration. There have been some important finance negotiations with banks which HK has supported, particularly when we left CBA for Westpac in 2001. Then for the acquisition in 2004, and again in 2008. Plus the most recent finance arrangements of 2014. Since my dad passed away in 2012, HK has informally played a role to assist with consideration of many acquisitions. This has been a quiet yet valuable aid for me. I am delighted that HK will remain on the Board for the immediate future. HK has always been here. This will be the end of an era for KSS and for me, but as we know he is energetic and has much more life in him. He is obviously enthusiastic and excited by the idea of having more time and plans to use it well. His wife, Veronica, has a long list of travel destinations on the list and he is an avid and adventurous bushwalker. It is indeed a brand new and exciting chapter for HK. ‘

Sam Kennard with HK Tung outside KSS THQ Macquarie Park.

After 36 years working in the business, HK has decided to start a new chapter.

moments for the business where he has been involved. Here are just a few reflections. HK’s analysis and assessment of our potential acquisition of Artarmon (Pacific Hwy) in 1992, was instru- mental in my decision to take the plunge. Many people do not realise that Artarmon was a game changer for KSS. After the turn-around of this distressed business, KSS was a considerably stronger business. He was openly delighted to see my elevation to run the business in 1994 and was genuinely interested to see me succeed. In 1998, he was strongly encouraging me to grow the business interstate, particularly in Melbourne. This stretch made us further develop our operating model and systems. In 2004, HK was a strong advocate and internal backer of the pursuit to successfully acquire Millers Self Storage in the $220 million deal. This was easily the biggest game-changer that KSS has ever made and was

He will be gradually stepping down, before retiring in the next year or two. At this time, he will reduce his work week. Though he is not quite leaving yet, it is a good time to acknowledge him and his incredible contribution. It is difficult to articulate how valuable HK has been to KSS since starting with my dad in 1983. There has been an unwavering loyalty and support; and a genuine commitment to see KSS flourish. He has been a valuable resource and ally to both my dad and also to me in our endeavours, challenges and opportunities. He has provided sage counsel, with a good mix of encouragement and caution for everything that we have taken on. It is indeed rare for a company to enjoy someone like HK in the Team. Over many years, HK has played key, albeit understated, roles in many of our big and also risky decisions. Whether it is his analysis or his unique and valuable insights, his contribution has been crucial.

Over the years, there have been many gems from HK. Many pivotal

Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

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FEATURE

desire to know or learn something”. Curiosity is a passion for understanding and the discovery of new things, which leads to pondering the possibilities that lead to the creation of new ideas. A lack of curiosity can mean accepting the status quo. This can lead to compla- cency and resistance. This stifles progress and innovation for business improvement. We like to consider ourselves a forward thinking business committed to being the best we can be, this requires challenging the status quo and encour- aging the creation of ideas. This is what puts curiosity in our top five must haves for success. Our Top Five Don’ts The opposite of the Do’s, where people don’t feel supported and looked after, they lack clear goals and objectives and are not inspired to do their best.

DO’S, DON’TS, MIGHT

M ay 2019, we decided to skip the Organisational Cultural Survey and instead conduct a Leadership Program involving 360-Degree Feedback. The Program evolved using the LSI 1 and 2 assess- ment tool divided into “description by self” and “description by others” and you hope the results are close to the same. Feedback by others is crucial in understanding how our behaviours affect others and allows self reflec- tion that leads to awareness and then to self-improvement, in theory. When the results of the two assessments are very different this can be confronting, and lead to some time with Sarah, that’s another story. In addition to the LSI assessments the program involved identifying the recipe for success based on Do’s, Don’ts and Might Do’s in business. Top five “Do’s” recipe for success, Top five “Don’ts” we absolutely don’t do! Top five “Might Do” from time to time. The Top Five Do’s, Don’ts and Mights relate to how we behave and act in the workplace that will make us more effective as leaders. Our top Five “Do’s” Is about people who are confident in their roles, they feel supported and looked after and have a clear purpose to do and achieve their best. 1. INSPIRED This is management 2.0. Dan Pink describes Management 1.0 as command and control, the carrot and stick approach. Inspiring is about providing guidance, knowledge and most importantly the trust and confidence in someone to perform their role. Doing this engages the whole

person to perform at the highest level.

2. SUPPORTED Support comes in many forms. Advice, trust and training is strongly related to people performing at their best. 3. CONFIDENT Teams should feel confident to act in the interest of the customer and the business. This is about empowering our Team Members and is one of our seven Freedom values. CARE IS A CORNER- STONE OF 4. CARE Care is a cornerstone of Kennards, how we handle our customers is from the ethos of Care, we have the customers interests at heart. If we care about our people they will care about our customers and the business. 5. CURIOUS Curiosity was our last recipe item for success in the top five must Do’s and was a heavily debated inclusion. Finally making the cut based on the immense value it brings to a business. FROM THE ETHOS OF CARE, WE HAVE THE CUSTOMERS INTERESTS AT HEART. KENNARDS, HOW WE HANDLE OUR CUSTOMERS IS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Powerless Uncaring Defensive

Unsupported

Insecure

Our Top Five “Might Do’s” Are not desirable but can happen from time to time. The nature of a geographi- cally spread business, a business that is constantly evolving and changing can have an effect on people.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Confused

Uncomfortable

Incapable

Disconnected Overwhelmed

What’s important about the might Do’s is that they are temporary. It’s not healthy for someone to live permanently under a state of confusion, or feel uncomfort- able, incapable, disconnected or overwhelmed in their roles. As humans we are all different and we are not perfect. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. What’s important for us as a business is to make certain that over time we address these Mights with further communication, training and better systems and processes to ensure they remain temporary!

Darren Marshall Chief Operating Officer

Curiosity is described as “the strong

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FEATURE

In the last edition we spoke about Google trends happening in Australia and dived into some of the numbers we experienced through our website. Keeping things fair it’s now time to share all things New Zealand. I am pleased to share some good Google trends that have hit the Kiwi shores. AN OVERVIEW - NZ ONLINE AUDIENCE

our sites. No Wonder CCC gets maximum calls on these days!

sessions performed on mobile devices.

85 % of these users came from NZ with 48% of new users from Auckland alone. 4% came from AU and the rest from the US, India, China, Japan, UK, etc. As anticipated, major searches came from the cites listed below. Auckland alone accounting for 48% of new users on the website. The top channels that helped in acquiring these users were Paid (40%), Organic (32.6%) and Direct (18.6%).

In the last 12 months (January to mid-November 2019 vs same time the year prior), the traffic to our NZ website from mobile increased by nearly 20%. In 2017 the mobile share of traffic was 37%, in 2018 it accounted for 40%, but it has really rumbled in the last 12 months and is already at 53%. Mobile technology is rapidly changing and we only expect this number to grow. We have an exciting year ahead as we work towards the launch of our new responsive website to deliver the best in class online experience for our customers.

I n the past 12 months, Google has seen an increase in search queries made for self storage, keywords like ‘storage units near me’ have seen 90% growth. The highest volume of these searches came from the Waikato, Auckland, Wellington Northland and Bay of Plenty region with the major cities being Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington. Last year alone we experienced 58,896 (from 1st of Jan to the 18th Nov 2019) visitors to our page, 82% were new users! Two minutes seemed to be the average time users were spending visiting our pages, which saw approximately 3.52 pages visited per user. There was a significant improvement in the bounce rate compared to the previous year, which dropped down from 39.53% to 27.18% which indicates people are going beyond the home page and looking at other pages. Interestingly our users have a much high representation in the 25-44 age bracket. According to science those in this age bracket are on the cusp of startup success, find holidays more satisfying and feel it’s the prime to take an adult gap year. Could this be translating to their storage needs, who knows! The gender split of users was close, being 45% females and 55% males. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays were the hot days for users searching

Sonal Saharan Digital Marketing Coordinator

More than 50% of the web users came through mobile devices with 44,462

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FEATURE

BACK TO OUR ROOTS New Development Site Acquired in Mooorebank

“Kennards Three Kings has given me superb service over the last two months, from time of first inquiry to exit and refunding of the unused storage time. The prices were very competi- tive. The units are clean and have easy access even on the upper floors. Nothing went missing. Katie, Mark and the rest of the Team I dealt with were extremely friendly and informative when I was ringing around comparing prices and service and remained so. They fielded my complicated inquiry very patiently, allowed me the possibility of switching to a smaller unit on the day if needed (I think this might have been an exceptional circumstance), and fitted in flexibly with my slightly uncertain start date. needed, giving good estimates of how much a home my size would require but without being pushy, and they honoured the Kennards commitment to buy the unused boxes back. I noticed they stayed open beyond the official closing time on at least two occasions I was there, helping customers. They gave handy tips about selling surplus stuff on TradeMe. Kennards staff sold me all the boxes and moving supplies I

In October, we acquired a parcel of land in the Sydney suburb of Moorebank. Many of you will know that KSS can trace our origins to this Western Sydney suburb. It was in the rear of the Kennards Hire centre in Moorebank that we built out first storage centre.

T his was where the entrepreneurial and pioneering leap was made by my dad in 1973. He used this small surplus parcel to develop the first storage in Australia after seeing storage during a trip to the USA. KSS relinquished operational manage- ment and oversight of that storage centre in 1991, when the ownership and operations of KSS and Kennards Hire were commercially separated. The original storage centre has also actually continued being operated by Kennards Hire until very recently. I noticed in recent travels in the area that Kennards Hire Moorebank have finally demolished the storage units and now use the area for further hard stand equipment storage. This was long overdue as the buildings had become very rundown. For some years, we have been particu- larly interested in this pocket and putting a centre on the western edge of the Liverpool CBD. So, after a number of attempts to acquire a property in the area, we have now done it.

It was acquired at an on site auction for $2.4 million. The property is 3,500 square metres and located at 3 Kelso Cresent. It enjoys exposure to Newbridge Road and is two kilometres from Liverpool. Liverpool is nominated as one of the commercial centres for growth in Western Sydney. There will be an ongoing increase in density and population in and around Liverpool. Our new Moorebank location will be the closest latest generation storage product. It is also located neatly in between our Hoxton Park centre and Bankstown centre. We will soon be submitting an applica- tion to Liverpool City Council to develop a 5 level Big Box storage building with all the usual KSS bells and whistles. The scheme will be approximately 8,000 sq metres of NLA. We would anticipate opening in early 2021. Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

Unconditional recommendation, crowns for Three Kings!”

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REVIEWS

OOGLE REVIEWS

MILTON QLD

ARTARMON NSW

CAMPBELLTOWN NSW

KSS Milton is the best storage provider I have experienced. The best Brisbane location with 24/7 access, superbly clean and tidy at all times. Has very clean toilet’s, kitchen facilities etc to make your own coffee. Manager is Aaron and he has given me #1 service since he commenced there. Recently, Aaron knew I wanted to increase my storage unit size and within 16 hours overnight, I was able to move into double the size, for such a great price. All coordinated/ managed by Aaron 10 minutes before his end of shift, and me being able to move in the next morning at 8am. Where else would you get service like that, in any industry. Aaron and Mike (Assistant Manager) are very customer focused, maintaining a great storage facility, such an asset representing KSS Milton. Customer service is second to none, location easy to access and storage areas very clean. Debbie from the office went out of her way to assist us with an out of hours, earlier than planned, arrival of furniture. Our removalists we incredibly efficient and arrived at Kennards before opening hours and as we didn’t have the 24 hour code we were in a frustrating predicament. Luckily we got hold of Debbie who so kindly gave up her Saturday morning sleep in to help us out. We would highly recommend this storage facility. I have been a customer at Kennards Huntingdale for more than 10 years. I had my own business and have just recently sold and had to vacate. All the staff have always been polite, friendly and willing to help and assist. I would like to make special mention of the current Manager Melissa and past Managers such as Dane as they have always been prepared to go above and beyond to help, thank you. I would highly recommend that Kennards is your first choice for all your storage requirements both short and long term. PARRAMATTA NSW HUNTINGDALE VIC

The whole exercise went off with great precision and the staff could not have been more helpful i.e. Paul, Jay and a Pakistani gentlemen whose name I can’t remember. Great effort guys. A pleasure to deal with you. CAMPBELLTOWN NSW I will always use Kennards Storage space as I have been storing my stuff there for four years and they are lovely staff working there for them, always there to help when needed. keep up the great services.

COORPAROO QLD After down sizing and deciding to rent a three bedroom unit for two years till we built we had the task of finding a temporary home for what we were going to keep. This task was made easier by Kellie when we ended up with a storage twice the size of other companies for a great price. It ticked all our boxes, space, clean and economical. Kellie even helped us by suggesting we move one unit over for better lighting. She didn’t have to, we would not have known. They made a very emotional and stressful time easier. Cant recommend highly enough. How do you make storage business exciting, I do not know how, but these guys have smashed it. From variety of options with what suited our needs, without having to spend a whole lot of money and the facilities always clean every time I went there. Can not recommend it enough. TAURANGA NZ Thank you Mike and Jiang. Excellent service organising storage for my new boat while I was overseas. They couldn’t go out of there way enough to make it as easy as possible. They want your business, and the enthusiasm, friendliness, helpfulness shows this. The facility was tidy clean, even the on site bathroom was immaculate! My first choice when I need storage again.

PALMERSTON NORTH NZ|

Great storage option. First time using a storage facility and they made it seamless and easy. Definitely recommend.

MACQUARIE PARK NSW

Have used storage facilities before, but walked into Macquarie Park Kennards and met Michael who was exception- ally helpful and personable. He showed me the ropes and we were moved in, in next to no time at all. Service 10/10. PROPSECT NSW Awesome service from the staff at Kennards Prospect! Thanks Andrew for all the help in unlocking my old storage unit, finding a new unit on my preferred location while maintaining a good price, getting a new lock for the unit and processing all the paperwork quickly, all in one visit. TAURANGA NZ Thank you for your great service. I felt very safe having my gear stored in my shed. I will come back again whenever I need to store more stuff that I don’t want to let go. You have 5 stars from me. THEBARTON SA Used this Kennards recently for several months. The staff were great, always willing to help, very professional and friendly. Storage was secure, access easy and I highly recommend.

MT EDEN NZ

Highly recommend! Maria was fantastic and a delight to deal with. Super friendly and hassle free! One of the best customer service experiences I’ve had to date! Really great.

PENRITH NSW

The guys were so easy to deal with. They explained exactly the units they had and which one would suit us. Going to the site, seeing how it works, including the security measures, were all very easy and it’s great value.

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FEATURE

THE POWER OF ROUTINES RITUALS AND HABITS

“The staff and facilities are amazing at Belmont, Great customer service.

A lot has been written about the importance of having positive routines in your life. Routines, Rituals and Habits are created to simplify decision making. Successful people believe reducing decisions on the unimportant and mundane allows more room for the bigger more important decisions.

everyday “beans and tuna”. I do this so I don’t have to think about lunch every day saving my decision making powers for other important matters. Decisions are not infinite; studies have proven that our ability to make well thought out decisions diminishes throughout the day. Often referred to as decision fatigue. Creating routines, rituals and habits removes friction from our lives and saves our decision making powers. It also ensures that we are still achieving everything we need to lead a balanced healthy life. Routines help in both our personal and professional lives; some people exercise first thing every morning before work, others read before going to bed. At work we can apply this thinking to our day to day. Adopting routines help in leading fuller richer lives by achieving more with less. If you haven’t created your own routines, rituals or habits ask yourself; What am I not doing that I would like to do everyday? Can I simplify my day to day to become more effective? Think about how you can work these answers into your daily routine with minimum effort.

The facilities are very safe, very secure and very dry. We had our items stored for four years and have just been transported interstate and look exactly the same as the day we stored them. No damp, mould or bugs to be found on bedding, fridges etc in all that time. We didn’t even have to fly interstate to attend the removal as we arranged and advised Kennards of the Removers arrival date, time and access. Kennards were only to happy to assist and extremely helpful. Lenci even advised me by text the time they arrived and assisted with access to the facility. I would like to thank the Kennards staff for all their valued assistance as I spoke with three of you and you were all just as helpful and for the Voucher; that doesn’t expire :) how good is that.

‘

CREATING ROUTINES, RITUALS AND

Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Steve Jobs (Apple) wear the same style of clothes every day. Steve Jobs in particular had a wardrobe full of jeans and turtle- neck black skivvies and made them his trademark. It was important to these very successful people not to waste decision power on deciding what to wear each day. My own routine as those in THQ know all too well, is to have the same lunch ‘ HABITS REMOVES FRICTIONS FROM OUR LIVES AND SAVES OUR DECISION MAKING POWERS

Thank you and I can’t praise you enough.

Keep up this great work. All the very best.”

Darren Marshall Chief Operating Officer

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FINANCE

SUPER AND WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME Superannuation – money saved during your working life to support your financial needs in retirement. There’s so much talk about Superannuation, what can we do to have more Super in retirement?

• If downsizing and selling the family home $300k can be added to the Super balance tax free. There is no limit on the Super balance for this option. • Any Fund less than $6k with no activity for six months will be passed on to the Government who will try and contact the person. • Starting from 1 July, 2019 the maximum amount that can be put into Super at the 15% tax threshold can be utilised from the prior five years. This is an excellent way to boost Super, especially as employees approach retirement. An example is at the end of June, 2021 (two years after the launch) an employee who has paid $15k into Super for the last two years can add an additional $20k to top up to the annual limit of $25k. Employees with a balance greater than $500k are not entitled to this benefit. • Any employee earning greater than $250k will pay 30% Super on the excess. Kennards are not able to pass on any advice, all we can do is encourage you to review your Super every year (at a minimum) and keep up to date with legislation changes. Here’s to enjoying retirement by travel- ling around Australia, trekking in Nepal, seeing the animals migrating across the Serengeti or whatever you plan to do… Anthony Rous Chief Financial Officer WORK WITH YOUR SUPER FUND AT LEAST FIVE YEARS BEFORE RETIRE- MENT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE

• Consolidate where we have more than one Super Fund as this will reduce paying excessive fees. It is easy to identify if you have additional Super – all Funds offer this function- ality and it is easy to consolidate. • If you do have more than one Fund, Insurance and Income Protection will only be paid from one fund, the other payments are wasted costs. • Review Super on an annual basis and decide whether any adjustments are needed, this could be increasing what you put in, reduce Life or TPD Insurance. • Compare your Fund to other Funds over the last five or ten years. Should you move to a new Fund? Moving is easy and fees are minimal. • Compare your fees to other Funds. $5 less fees per month over 30 years would add $4k to your end balance assuming a 5% annual return. • Keep up to date with Super legisla- tion changes and see how they impact you. • Make sure you are classified as the correct employee status. All • Put additional money into Super when you can afford it.

Kennards employees are Office/ Management employees. Many Funds default employees to high risk work categories (like mining or construction) until the employee changes it. This will mean higher Insurance and TPD fees. • See professional advisers from your Super Fund to see if there is anything that can be done better. All Funds offer this service and normally it is free of charge for the initial review. • Ensure you have a Beneficiary as it can cause significant issues if not clear. Ideally sign the standard form every three years to confirm the Beneficiary. • Ensure details on your MY GOV are up to date so you can be contacted. • Work with your Super Fund at least five years before retirement to understand what options are available and what you can do to maximise your balance and contributions in the most tax effective way.

Several recent Superannuation changes have come into effect:

• A First Home Owners Scheme can be accessed through Super, limited to $30k per person.

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FEATURE

INSURANCE – Valuable benefit, however cover needs to be accepted first before you ever need it!

customers the situation is somewhat different with the realisation of a potential loss and who is then going to pay. It is really in the storers best interests to ensure the insurance descision is not just a brief mention or considera- tion when the Storage Agreement is completed, whether in store or digitally, as the consequences of not having cover are significant. Since insurance is not generally top of mind when you receive an enquiry or reservation and may not be accepted when mentioned, this should not mean the topic is never discussed again. At the next touch point, whether it is a follow up or confirmation call regarding the move in, insurance cover should be discussed and encouraged again with the customer as they should be more open and trusting now that a customer relationship has been established. Move in day can be stressful however a mention on that day is another good time. If not, then the next day when you contact them to see how the move-in went, you can bring up insurance cover again. Often upon reflection, the thinking can change to a positive response and you will never know unless you ask. As always, record each attempt and feedback in notes, this can be valuable in the future to refer to as well. Also, customers sometimes use the objection that they already have contents insurance which is great, however unless the current insurer is informed the goods are in storage the customer may not be covered. The length of stay in storage can affect whether this cover continues after a certain period, circumstances the customer should be informed of to check. This creates an opportunity where our insurance cover can be offered with better features,asking what their excess is compared to their current policy. Again you will never know unless you ask!

W ith recent events occurring at some centres – whether it is security or weather related, it is a timely reminder to consider that one of our crucial terms in the Storage Space Hire Agreement is KSS is not responsible for loss if customers suffer some damage to their goods. ‘Our customer goods are NOT insured when in storage unless they take it out. This is due to the fact that we do not know the contents, value of goods stored and most importantly do not have care, custody and control of the unit contents. This is the same situation that is identical to that of a landlord and tenant’

ately gets the customer to consciously opt in or out of the KSS Policy cover by signing the “accept” or “decline” section on the front page. Unfortunately, sudden events such as fire, water damage, leakage and theft can occur at the best run centre anywhere. Just like you would insure your own home or contents in case of unforeseen events, it is no different when customers put their goods in storage. types of customers, the ones who are insured and the ones who are not. The storers with insurance tend to be more forgiving, calm and understanding, start the claim process and have a successful experience. However, for the uninsured In my experience, whenever there is an event, there are two distinct

Andrew Kirkham NZ Operations Manager

The Storage Agreement deliber-

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MILE END TRANFORMS

Partnering up with third party investors opens opportunities for KSS to expand our Brand and footprint. We were presented with the opportunity to manage a storage site in the suburb of Mile End located in South Australia.

T he operator there was Able Storage owned by the Cohen Group. The Cohen Group are a family business that own and manage various properties including shopping centres, commercial office buildings and retirement villages. Their vision and family values tie in nicely with KSS hence the start of our business relationship. We acquired operations of the property from the 1st November, 2019. A quick Systems Review uncovered numerous opportunities; income leakage and occupancy growth were the stand outs. The property presents well on the corner of a busy road with great frontage and visual presence. Works commenced on Tuesday the 5th of November with the painters commencing the transformation of the building into our famous orange and blue Brand colours. (Jump on yammer to see the progress photos) The build for the new office has also commenced and we look forward to moving into the larger office with improved retail and packing supplies space. With just under 200 storage units the single level facility has ground floor access units and a large outdoor space area housing over 40 vehicles. Our Team comprising of Rob Ellwood (Manager) and Trish Rolls (Assistant Manager) have been busy getting to know their customers and implementing Kennards systems into their centre. We look forward to working with the Cohen Group and being part of their portfolio growth.

Robert Ellwood Centre Manager and Trish Rolls Assistant Manager for Mile End

Tony Vuong G eneral Manager of Operations

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

to provide you with the current “Best Practice” solution. There’s been a few teething issues with the emerging technologies, but overall it has been beneficial, providing us with: • A streamlined customer call journey, with customer calls ringing on counter phones and centre mobiles simultaneously; • Improved ability to access information on call statistics; You’ll be aware from earlier announce- ments that we’ve implemented a new email security system. This has been very successful, reducing the amount of undesirable email that gets through and consequently, the amount of risk exposure and security incidents. Of course no system is 100% foolproof and we will continue our efforts to strengthen user awareness, which is still our best defence. To this end we are commencing a security awareness campaign to reinforce our messages about password security, email security, credit card security, social media awareness, etc. We continue to chip away at the various legacy systems in Kosmo and replace them with alternatives. One of the systems that we’re looking at replacing very early in 2020 is the Help and Support Portal. We’ve examined several alternative options and have selected a modern, cloud-based service manage- ment solution that will provide the organisation with an enormous amount of capabilities that Kosmo cannot. This will improve the management, record- keeping and reporting capabilities of the Technology Team, as well as the accessibility, submission channels and service features available to Team Members. Watch this space! “Somethings Man was never meant to know. For everything else, there’s Google.” • Generally improved audio quality; • Reduced costs on call redirections.

The Technology Team always have a lot of projects of varying scale and complexity either being planned or underway at any point in time. Last year at about this time, I gave you a snapshot of what that looked like. Here’s an update on what’s going on.

Conor Kennedy, Vadim Guralnyk, Sean Bradley, Jeff Xanthos, Jesse Dux and Juan Moran

A ll sites have now been updated to StorLogix version 5, which was a prerequisite for the Windows 10 rollout. The Windows 10 rollout is well under way, with over 50% of sites now converted. This rollout has been performed in conjunc- tion with a hardware refresh that has seen us dispose of over one hundred older, slower computers. This project has also seen us make advances in software deployment, patch manage- ment, security considerations and data resiliency and recovery. If we haven’t gotten to your site yet, we will in the next few months. Medius is moving to the Cloud! We’re working with Medius in December to

move the “workflow engine” component of the system to the Cloud. This is the part of the system that you access through the web interface to view and approve invoices. This will provide all of the benefits of running this system in the Cloud, including anytime, anywhere accessibility to authorised users, authentication through our Single Sign On system (the same one you login to Atlas with), and other less visible benefits, such as a reduction in resource requirements in our own data centre. We’ve been trialling a Unified Communication system at several sites with mostly positive results. This is underpinned by network technolo- gies that we’re still experimenting with

Sean Bradley ICT Manager

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FEATURE

KSS CHRISTMAS CHEER

AUCKLAND NZ

TAURANGA NZ

WELLINGTON NZ

BRISBANE QLD

BRISBANE QLD

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FEATURE

KSS CHRISTMAS CHEER

VICTORIA

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

VICTORIA

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FEATURE

SYDNEY

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PROPERTY

SPOTLIGHT ON SPRINGVALE

WE HAVE MANY DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE CUSTOMERS, ONE BEING A STORER WHO HAD 32 UNITS WITH US AND EACH UNIT WAS A DIFFERENT THEME. EG: BOOK STORAGE, 80’S MEMORABILIA ETC

T he original open grazing with a four bedroom house built on a land size of 10,410 square metres. It was then sold in 2005 for $2.8 million. The site was developed for its ideal property location on a main road in a fast growing residential area to the south of Melbourne. The location was acquired by a commercial timber yard operation until purchased by the current owners Stevens Bros. in 2006. Kennards Self Storage has been managing this purpose built facility on behalf of Kenstor (Steve Bros) since 2007. Our Sprinvale centre is located 28km from the CBD in Melbourne’s South East corridor, on the Princes Highway, the main road. We are situated between an Ikea and a Bunnings. Customers can buy their new kitchen from Bunnings, furnish it from Ikea and then store everything with us whilst they are renovating. The strip where we are located is a one stop shop for your renovation needs and is also a short trip to central Springvale, predominately a high migrant settlement with a diversity in culture, lower median incomes and limited English proficiency. Due to ongoing growth, a further two stages of development have been built land here at Springvale was purchased in 1981 for $548,000

since with the current rear property area built and trading for business since August last year. Due to our Springvale centre having a high capacity to supply driveway accessible storage units, it offers potential storers a unique storage experience against our competitors lack of driveway inventory. The Management Team; Scott Griffiths- Hewitt (right), Centre Manager, and Matthew Harder (left), Assistant Manager are dedicated and passionate about the centre, its people and its success. They strive to promote the Kennards Brand and always provide excellent customer service. We have many different and unique customers, one being a storer who had 32 units with us and each unit was a different theme, eg: book storage, 80’s memorabilia etc. Before the expansion opened last year, we were sitting at 86% occupancy. When the expansion officially opened on October 10th, 2019 we dropped to 55% occupancy and in just over a month we moved back up to 60.4% and still growing. The challenges faced at Springvale are centred around changing the behaviours

of some of our longer term customers and the liberties they have come to expect. Managing the regular delinquents has also been a challenge however they are slowing coming under control. We are handling all challenges together as a Team by following Best Practice and doing what we say we are going to do. We set monthly goals for the centre which help us work more efficiently and strive towards achieving them.

Scott Griffiths-Hewitt Centre Mananger Kennards Self Storage Springvale

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PROPERTY

WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE

Aura QLD – Left: Early groundworks are underway on this new centre. Recent storms flipped the site shed over, thankfully no one was inside. Virginia QLD – Below left: Work on this small but important expansion is coming to and end with the final touches on the fit out underway with the new hoist to be dropped in soon.

Wairau Valley NZ : – Above: All piling is complete, lift pit and walls underway with the ground floor slab booked in to be poured. Hoxton Park NSW – Below: Painting of the floor and walls is complete and fit out of the storage units is underway.

Warrawong NSW – Above: Overall site preparation is underway with the first ground floor slab built for this new expansion project.

Michael Macheledt & Craig Henery Development & Construction Team

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

OUR LEARNING AT KENNARDS

“The best storage facility in the city fringe area. The location is convenient with parking options. The staff is even better in terms of courtesy and customer service. They even have moving vans and trailers for hire. For storage they have different size of units to fit your requirement. I always find it worthwhile to call them for a quote and check availability for my storage and moving require- ments. Have been a happy and regular customer of both Mt Eden and their Three Kings facility for seven years.” “Terry was really helpful and informative with my booking process ar Wentworthville. Helped me save some money. Also, I didn’t know I could deliver my furniture to storage and move them to my space in my own time, which is extremely handy for someone like me that wants to order big furniture online. Thanks.” “Had to store some things at short notice due to apartment block cleanup. KSS Yeerong- pilly were available straight away. No access or other issues and they refunded for an early exit. Thanks!”

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Early 2020 will see the launch of the KSS Learning Management System (LMS). The introduction of an e-learning solution underpins KSS commitment to continually set Team Members up for success. But what exactly is “e-learning or an “LMS” for that matter? The term e-learning was first coined back in 1998. To add a little context that’s the same year Google was launched, Titanic won 11 Academy Awards and President Clinton got in a spot of bother! Basically, e-learning is the use of electronic technologies to access educational content outside of a traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, program or qualifi- cation delivered completely online. A Learning Management System or LMS is the software application used to deliver, document, track and report on that content. Going forward Kennards will take what’s called a blended learning approach to training. This means some programs will be completely online, some face-to- face while others will be a mixture of the two.

employees, save time and ensure consist- ency of information. In my experience, it also offers a wide range of additional benefits: Retention and Access With interactive content, videos, documents and audio files e-learning can greatly increase engagement and retention of key information. With easy access to learning, Team Members will have greater control over their own learning and development at KSS. Feedback When online training incorporates interac- tive elements like quizzes and branching scenarios, employees have access to immediate feedback. This will allow Team Members to gauge how well they’re doing and identify areas for improvement in real time. Efficiency With a geographically dispersed workforce spread over two countries, five states and 93 locations, e-learning is an effective method of delivering learning programs. 2020 represents an exciting journey ahead for Kennards. Our learning strategy will change but the KSS commitment to personal and professional development will not.

Wayne Brown Training and Development Manager

While we know e-learning can empower

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