Welcome to Sydmed - a leading medical instrument company.

Andrew Evan Lloyd
25th August 1952 - 15th August 2011

It has been common knowledge that Andrew Lloyd had sought to sell his company after being diagnosed with a form of cancer called mesothelioma. On Monday 15th August Andrew sadly lost his battle. Everyone at Sydmed has been moved to hear the incredible, funny and touching stories from Sydmed's suppliers, customers, and of course our own staff members who worked for Andrew for many years.

With such a response, and permission from his family, we felt it was appropriate to offer the opportunity to either share your sympathies on this site or send your condolences through to Andrew's family. Please email dale.johnston@avnet.com or ashleigh.thomas@avnet.com.

Ray Laborie - August 15^th 2011

Dear Everyone,

This morning, we, Laborie Medical and I and some of us individually lost a very dear Friend.

Andrew Lloyd died after a 2 year battle with Cancer... ...I well remember our first contact with Andrew who wanted to be our distributor in Australia… It was an IUGA meeting, I believe and Ing and I had to set up the booth and the equipment… Some of you do not remember the old “Anthro cart” but I will never forget it. We had to set it up and Andrew rolled up his sleeves and helped in spite of the fact that some parts were missing: so, Andrew went shopping for “equivalents” and with Ing’s help, we finally made it… But Andrew was so positive, so nice and so entertaining: he had so many interesting stories and comments… At the time, I thought that since there was an Australian manufacturer of urodynamics equipment, we would not go very far and we signed up with Andrew with the attitude “Nothing to lose”.

Well, much to my surprise, Andrew, in very little time had become the # 1 supplier of urodynamics equipment in Australia.  His very “cool” personality, his permanent sense of humour and his genuine caring for everyone he met, did it. He was very ambitious but you would never know it when you met him: not a sign of aggressiveness, not a word to degrade a competitor: just a perfect gentleman. Andrew was also very smart, hiring and training very qualified technical people to guarantee the best service to his customers.  Andrew was so proud of his customers and he made it a point to introduce me to all of them.  But it did not stop there: when he saw a business opportunity, he would call me, if he knew an important professor from a different market, he would introduce me and he even introduced me to Yukio. He was The Friend we all trusted.

Sydmed became our best distributor and year after year, Sydmed produced more. As you all know, my favourite activity at conventions is to ask customers how they like our equipment and the way they are treated: All of Andrew’s customers were happy and loved Andrew and his team! Today, Laborie is #1 with  a share of the market in Australia above 90%, New Zealand and South East Asia: This is what Andrew did and this is what I want every member of our company to appreciate! When he found out that he was so sick, he decided to sell Sydmed so that his legacy could continue and his trusted personnel, Ashleigh Thomas and Dale Johnston and others could continue his dream.

On a personal level, Andrew became one of my very few close friends. Whenever he could meet me somewhere, he would go out of his way to do that and we would have a great time together trying different foods, different wines and talking about subjects of mutual interest.  Every time we met, he had one or more bottles of the best Australian Shiraz for me. The biggest joke was that he always wanted to come to AUA or ICS and at the last minute, he would cancel… Andrew was not a “big spender” and constantly kept an eye on cash-flow and if he did not feel comfortable traveling, he would cancel his plans.  We know all about this, don’t we... Several times we met in China and he had a special talent to communicate with Chinese people even if he did not speak Chinese and this is how he and I went to visit stores and markets and he bargained his way just about as well as Kerry does.  However Andrew was very generous and I was so moved when a case of 12 different bottles of wines (Shiraz) that he hand- picked for me arrived in Burlington.  These are the best Shiraz in Australia... ...I know that Ing used to receive calls from Andrew at the end of the day and this at least 3 times a week. Of course, he had questions but how he appreciated this contact! He once told me: “What is nice about you guys, is that you are so accessible”… That was “Friendship”.

How we miss these days! And we will never forget our very special and close friend! May his sole go to Heaven! He deserves it!