Paul Gaze has been appointed CEO Designate of Hire Association Europe (HAE) and Event Hire Association (EHA), following Graham Arundell’s decision in January to step down as the Chief Executive Officer after 13 demanding years at the helm.
Paul took over the hire industry hot seat on September 1 2020, after joining HAE EHA as Commercial Manager in 2018 and quickly making his mark by helping to transform the training and skills development programmes, setting up a career path for members, widened the training offer and introducing a vocational assessment centre.
He has a great understanding of and insight into the issues within construction and is considered a skilled relationship builder with an ability to bring about consensus across general and specialist sections of the industry. Paul is passionate about training and development and an outstanding advocate of providing opportunity for industry to excel in a constantly changing environment.
To support cross sector working he introduced the Hire Skills Pledge to promote careers, recruitment and development. Paul led the further development of Virtual Reality training and the HAE Direct Business, supporting members with safety guidance and information. He has also taken an active role in supporting industry committees, forums and groups including the Technical Safety Panel, Digger and Dumper Safety Group, Construction Dust Partnership, and the Build UK CITB Reform Group.
His impressive pedigree of 30 years’ experience in the construction industry in a range of technical and managerial roles in both the public and private sectors – prior to joining HAE EHA he spent more than a decade at the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) – made Paul the ideal candidate for the position, said Brian Sherlock, Chair HAE.
Brian explained: “HAE EHA has experienced a very successful past decade under Graham Arundell’s steady hand and the post of CEO designate provides some big shoes to fill. As an ambitious and innovative organisation we’re looking forward to Paul putting his skills and experience to excellent use: continuing to build the Association and support its members by developing training and enhanced services as well as providing operational resources to support the hire industry.”
He added: “The Board would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Graham Arundell for delaying his retirement, in order to support the Association during the pandemic. We are pleased to confirm that he will continue in a part-time position for the remainder of the current fiscal year to ensure that a seamless transition of leadership occurs.”
On his appointment, Paul said: “I’m thrilled to be named as the new CEO Designate and eager to continue the advancement of the business strategy and specific services within that. Such proactivity, especially in these unprecedented times for the Tool, Plant & Equipment Board, Event Equipment Board and the Supply Chain Industry Board, will be critical to the Associations’ support of their members.”
Paul holds a BSc (Hons) in Building Management from Northumbria University and an MBA from the University of Sunderland Business School. He is also a Chartered Builder and Chartered Building Engineer.
For more details visit www.hae.org.uk
