CEO DIARIES
NEVER IN ANY DOUBT
Bernard Doughty leads Carl Stahl Evita as managing director with the very same values that shaped him; being accessible and supportive, honest and committed to those around him. A reflection of the company’s beliefs, this month’s CEO diaries hears from Doughty to find out about his experience and expectation for the industry.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role as an industry leader I have worked for Carl Stahl Evita since 2004, originally joining the business as a sales administrator with no prior experience in the lifting industry. At that stage of my career, I didn’t fully appreciate just how technical, regulated and safety critical the sector was. What I did have, however, was a strong willingness to learn, a desire to take on responsibility and an appreciation for being part of a business that did things properly. From the outset, I was fortunate to join a company built on strong family led values. Integrity, loyalty, responsibility and doing the right thing are not just words at Carl Stahl – they are principles that influence how decisions are made, how customers are treated and how people are developed. Those values have shaped my entire career and, ultimately, my leadership style. As I progressed through the business, Carl Stahl
invested heavily in my technical and professional development. A key part of that journey was completing several LEEA diplomas, which gave me a solid technical grounding in lifting equipment behaviour, inspection criteria, safe operation and the legislative framework that underpins our industry. That formal learning was not theoretical alone; it was continuously reinforced through hands on exposure across inspections, testing, wire rope services, fabrication, lifting equipment supply and direct customer support. Working across so many areas of the business allowed me to understand lifting operations from the ground up – not just from a management or commercial perspective, but from the practical realities faced by engineers, inspectors and end users on site. That breadth of experience has been invaluable and continues to influence how I approach leadership today. After 15 years of continuous progression and
increasing responsibility, I became managing director in 2019. This was not simply a promotion or a change in job title; it was a reflection of the
14 | March 2026 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
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