NO LOUNGING AROUND FOR GUEST ISUZUS

02 August 2011

Since 1917 the Guest name has been synonymous with fine furniture, but the scale of its industry experience extends well beyond retail operations.

What many people may not know is the group is one of Australia's largest independent furniture companies with divisions covering long and short term hire, commercial and interior design.

With such a broad portfolio to service, the group is increasingly turning to Isuzu trucks to fill its transportation needs.

Guest Group National Warehouse and Logistics Manager, Jim Paliouras, has just welcomed three new Isuzu FRR 500 extra long models to the 14-strong fleet and expects to purchase more in the near future.

The Isuzus join the Guest Group stable of trucks used to transport furniture to and from customers around Australia.

"Isuzu was recommended to us so we followed up with our own research and were impressed," Jim said.

"It's a reputable brand and we weren't getting good customer service from the manufacturer of our other trucks.

"The Isuzus also offer a fair bit more in terms of power and torque and provide a more user-friendly interior than many of the other trucks out there."

Two of the new Isuzu FRR 500s are based in Melbourne and one in Sydney. Part of their workload includes providing transport solutions for the largest part of the Guest Group business - Guest Hire.

Guest Group GM Operations Anne McDiarmid said Guest Hire furnishes over 1,000 residential properties each year.

"This means the Isuzus are not only delivering complete households of furniture and accessories in the metropolitan area, but also to housing developments on the urban fringe and regional growth areas," Mrs McDiarmid said.

"We pride ourselves on our customer service and working with Australia's leading builders and developers means we need reliable transport. In addition we can have our Customer Service teams on the road for long periods of time so we want them to be comfortable. 

"Everything from individual furniture items to entire home packages will be supplied with the help of our new Isuzu FRR 500s.

"With Isuzu we have the peace of mind in knowing we don't have to worry about breaking down or being unable to haul heavy loads, and that's exactly what we were looking for."

In addition to Guest Hire, the group designs and delivers furnishing solutions to major hotel/serviced apartment chains, resorts, retirement living and student accommodation providers through Guest Commercial. Looking elsewhere in the group, Guest Interiors provides interior design and decorating services, while Suite Deals sells ex-display and ex-hire furniture at two Melbourne locations.

It all provides plenty of work for the 10,400kg GVM Isuzu FRR 500 extra longs, which span 8.6 metres in length for increased capacity when hauling large furniture loads.

In fact, demand within the Guest Group portfolio is exploding, with more Isuzu trucks likely to be acquired soon to help the 90 year old company continue its expansion.

The growth of the business has been greeted warmly by its 200-plus employees and hundreds of suppliers nationwide.

ends

For further information, please contact:                          
Jeff Birdseye                                                                                    
Marketing Manager                                                              
Isuzu Australia Limited                                                       
Phone: 03 9644 6666
 
For Isuzu Truck releases and photos:
Arkajon Communications
Phone: 03 9867 5611
Email: isuzu@arkajon.com.au