Positive outlook from Boels
1 July 2020
Environmental and economic factors could enable hire companies throughout Europe to recover from the downturn more quickly than many other sectors, according to Pierre Boels, CEO of Boels Rental.
He took part in a webinar yesterday during which the European Rental Awards 2020 were awarded. The event, organised by the European Rental Association and International Rental News, should have taken place in Maastricht on 10 June during the APEX show and the International Rental Exhibition, which had to be cancelled owing to the coronavirus.
Speaking in a market update session, Pierre Boels said that historically, after previous recessions, hire activity had increased. Contractors needed to reduce capex and seek more flexible ways of procuring equipment. They would also want to lower their carbon footprint, an idea which could be central to various rebuilding programmes throughout Europe.
He cited the EU’s Green Deal which aims to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050 throughout the 27-country bloc, and a 50%-55% reduction by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. Environmental considerations would be as important as ever after the pandemic, he said, and hirers would need to adopt green ways of working themselves.
Other trends he predicted were an increase in home working and the wider adoption of digital solutions, such as apps for hire transactions, online training and paper-less working, which many companies have been using successfully during the pandemic.
Boels Rental, which operates in 17 countries, is introducing more electric and hybrid equipment into its fleet to meet customer demand. Pierre Boels said that customers in The Netherlands (where the company has its headquarters) and the Nordic countries were proving particularly pro-active in adopting such technology.
