Meet the Team

Specialised project crane hire solutions. Site based mobile and crawler cranes for complex lifting requirements.

Meet the team that keeps North Queensland lifting, shifting, picking and moving!

GORDON WILLOCKS – MANAGING DIRECTOR

Gordon Willocks started work for John Smith Contractors (Group Managing Director Albert Smith’s father) in New Zealand as a teenager and has been part of the Universal Cranes family from the very beginning. Gordon has experience in wharf, bridge and foundations construction. He spent 11 years in Guam working as Operations Manager for Universal Cranes sister company Smithbridge. Gordon moved to Brisbane with his family in 2004, taking up the post of Operations Manager for the flagship Universal Cranes Brisbane operations. An energetic and engaging leader, Gordon again relocated to North Queensland as the owner and operator of the Universal Cranes Townsville branch. Gordon manages an industry-leading crane hire business in North Queensland, continuing to grow in a challenging economic environment.

 

MAC PERA – BRANCH MANAGER (TOWNSVILLE)

Mac Pera started working with the Smithbridge Group as a crane driver at Universal Cranes Brisbane in 2004. After a few years of experience with the company operations, Mac moved into the management role of Dispatcher. This led to taking on the role of Operations Manager in 2008, where he stayed until moving to Gladstone to fulfil the role of Branch Manager for several years. Gordon invited Mac to start at Universal Cranes North Queensland in mid-2021 in the key position of Branch Manager in Townsville.

 

DANIEL DAVIS – BRANCH MANAGER (MACKAY)

Daniel Davis started with the company as a young rigger/dogman just as the business established itself in Townsville in late 2007. After a couple of years’ experience, he progressively obtained further rigging and crane operator proficiencies. When the company branched out into the Mackay region in 2014, Dan moved to Mackay as a supervisor, and in the last couple of years has stepped up to the role of Branch Manager for Mackay.