Peter Hird Named Kito Crosby’s Commercial and Business Development Lead

Kito Crosby, a leader of the lifting and securement industry, recently announced the appointment of Peter Hird as the company’s new commercial and business development lead for Crosby BlokCam and Crosby Straightpoint.

With nearly 40 years in the cranes and lifting industry, Hird brings unparalleled expertise and innovation to this new position.

“Cranes are integral to our daily lives,” Hird said. “From construction to goods transportation, we rely on the use of cranes globally. In my new role at Kito Crosby, we’re integrating these two brands internally — Crosby BlokCam and Crosby Straightpoint — and with other products within the group. The goal is to make lifting operations safer through industry knowledge and innovation.”

Crane Hot Line spoke with Hird to get the inside scoop about his new role at Kito Crosby, where he will drive the development of innovative products to further improve safety and efficiency in lifting operations.

A Foundation for Success

Hird began his lifting career in 1983, as a crane engineer at his father’s business in northern United Kingdom.

“We owned a local family crane rental and lifting specialist company,” Hird told Crane Hot Line. “Initially, I was involved with the servicing and repairs of lifting equipment. That generally consisted of different types of cranes.”

As the years went on, Hird progressed through the ranks in the family business, working in sales, and later becoming the company managing director when his father retired in 2004. During his tenure as managing director, Hird grew the family business from a single location to multiple locations throughout the United Kingdom.

After 25 years, he exited the business in 2009 to pursue a new venture — the development, and later acquisition, of BlokCam.

Pioneering Crane Safety Innovation

After his exit from the family business, Hird worked alongside a group of strategic partners to develop a lifting company. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, the company had sub outlets in the Middle East and North America where they sold small mini cranes.

In 2014-15, the team started looking into new and innovative ways to expand the business.

“We had involvement with crane cameras where we were trying to buy in and sell the cameras of another manufacturer,” Hird said. “It didn’t go well. We quickly identified that there was a bit of a gap in the market for high-quality crane cameras. So, we sat around the table and began developing our own high-quality, high-definition and high-value camera system.”

Collectively, the team had worked in the lifting industry for several years and understood technology was improving at a rapid rate. Taking note, they quickly got to work developing BlokCam — a wireless system that hooks to a crane and allows the operator to easily see and hear a load.

As the business grew, Hird and his team were approached by the CEO of Crosby at the time, before it became Kito Crosby, Robert Desel. A conversation about selling the business to Crosby was initiated in 2019, but quickly came to a halt in 2020.

“COVID posed several challenges for us,” Hird explained. “During that time, the potential deal was put on hold and things changed dramatically. Luckily for us, the construction and crane industries carried on. Although the growth rate reduced a bit, we still had growth.”

Hird and his team went back to Crosby in October of 2020 and completed the sale of BlokCam in April of 2021. As a result, Hird, his co-founder and several strategic team members joined with Crosby. Hird went from joint managing director to business development director at Crosby for the BlokCam products. This role remained the same until January of 2023, when Kito and Crosby merged, becoming Kito Crosby.

A New Role at Kito Crosby

Hird’s role recently evolved from business development director to commercial and business development lead for Kito Crosby’s technology solutions division. Part of the new role includes integrating internal and other products with current Kito Crosby products.

“I head up both brands now,” Hird said. “Within the Kito Crosby group, we have different types of lifting equipment. For instance, we have a factory based in Spain, Crosby Airpes, that predominantly works with the design and manufacturing of lifting devices for wind turbine blades.We’ve worked together to combine the BlokCam and Airpes products to build our cameras into their system.”

As he transitioned into his new role, Hird reflected on the accomplishments he’s made over the past 40 years. When asked, he says the development and sale of BlokCam to the biggest lifting company in the world has been his greatest career achievement to date.

He also credits a very special person in his life for his success. “My mother,” he said. “She was always someone that encouraged me to meet life head on. To get on with any challenges that I came across in day-to-day life. She was very strong-willed, and I am a strong person because of that — so my mother gets that accolade.”

As the crane industry evolves, and safety becomes ever more important, Hird has made it his mission and vision to one day leave the industry knowing he made it a safer place.

“If I can walk away from this industry at the end of it and know I’ve made it a safer place, then I’ll have achieved something through my career. That’s always been my vision, making lifting operations safer.”