It is with great sadness we advise the passing of Alan Russell on Monday 2 January 2017 following a 12 year battle with cancer.

Alan was a much loved grandfather, father and husband and his knowledge and passion for the cleaning industry will be missed and very hard to replace.

Starting out in the cleaning industry when mops, buckets and brooms were still commonplace in lieu of motorised equipment, Alan will be remembered as one of the mavericks in the early days promoting motorised cleaning equipment into an uneducated market.

Alan was born in Sydney NSW and originally started working life in the air force. Upon completion of his electrical trade, he found his way into the forklift industry working with companies such as Eaton Yale and TCM.

In the early 80s Alan began importing RCM and Comac products from Italy. In the late 80s, he decided to sell the business, which in its current form today is Sweepers Australia.

He left Sweepers Australia to help establish the Australasia dealer network for the American Lincoln range (Alto). At the end of his time with Alto, he spent three years in New Zealand managing the Alto business.

On returning to Australia, Alan started up a business with his two sons, Kynan and Berin, while helping out as general manager at the Australian Sweeper Company (ASC). During this period, he was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer.

After a number of years with ASC he decided to depart to establish an SME focusing on the commercial range of Dulevo with his son Kynan and business partner.

Unfortunately this did not fare too well as he could only ignore the cancer for so long as the effects started to take hold. He scaled back to work part time from an office at home.

In 2015, Kynan and Berin took over supporting his customers and business.

Alan’s son Berin described his father as a workaholic who was well-known in the industry, as he trained many people on the use of sweepers and scrubbers in Australia and abroad.

We offer our sincere condolences to Alan’s family and friends. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.