Skyjack has announced the retirement of current president Ken McDougall, and the subsequent appointment of Charlie Patterson as new president, effective 1 January 2024. They will be working together over the next several months to facilitate a smooth transition.

Mr McDougall started his career at Skyjack’s parent company Linamar in 1987 as a tool designer, moving up into various key roles including global sales and estimating manager, and vice president of operations. His tenure also saw the acquisition of two telehander lines from Carelift/Zoom Boom and Volvo, a crucial foundation for the company’s existing telehandler line up.

More recently, Mr McDougall led Skyjack’s immense global capacity increases. Taking the number of manufacturing plants from two in Canada to five globally, Skyjack’s potential global unit capacity is expected to increase 235% when compared to 2022. In addition, Mr McDougall’s tenure saw a number of successful Skyjack product launches, such as the Elevate telematics system as well as updated boom and vertical mast lines.

“It has been an honour to serve as Skyjack president during this period of immense growth and transformation. 2023 marks my 36th anniversary with Linamar and Skyjack, and over those years, I have had the great pleasure of working for and with countless talented and dedicated individuals,” said Mr McDougall, two-time Skyjack president. “I am confident that with his experience, knowledge and leadership skills, Charlie Patterson will do an outstanding job in moving Skyjack forward.”

Currently vice president of international operations, Mr Patterson started with Skyjack in 2000 as UK sales manager and went on to head the UK and European operations for the company. He oversaw the opening of Skyjack offices in the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and Australia and previously led sales in Asia Pacific.

“I am thrilled and honoured to take on the role as Skyjack president,” said Mr Patterson. “Ken has done an exceptional job moving Skyjack forward to date, and I look forward to continuing to build upon that momentum. As always, Skyjack will be dedicated to being easy to do business with, while developing simple and reliable solutions for rental companies worldwide.”