Elvington bounces back

24 July 2020

Business levels have bounced back strongly for Elvington Plant Hire since reopening after the lockdown. In fact, the company has broken records.

“We shut down for four weeks when the lockdown was announced to keep everyone safe says Tim Garland, Managing Director of the hard-working tool and plant hire business which is based near York. “We felt it was the safe and sensible thing to do, and a lot of our customers did the same.

“We came back to work towards the end of April with a team of just four. Our last furloughed employee returned at the end of June.”

Phones ringing non-stop

“Originally when we returned, we said we would focus on our account customers and people who had dealt with us before as we weren’t at full strength, but the phones were ringing non-stop. So we soon brought more people back from furlough and basically just went for it.

“When we did our figures for June we found that we had absolutely smashed last year’s number for the same month, which we obviously hadn’t expected at all. Orders from new customers for both our hire and contracting operations are flooding in. It’s almost like we’ve never been away,” he says.

“We get a lot of business from local utilities, and small builders have been crazy busy. Some tell me they have full order books until this time next year. DIY business has also been amazing.”

Steady cash business

Indeed, Tim estimates that 30% of business during the lockdown comprised cash hires for items like mixers, compaction plates, rotavators and other small equipment. Elvington also sold a lot of Altrad Belle mixers and barrows.

“We’ve also added more trade accounts. Some other hirers closed for longer than we did, so customers were coming to us,” says Tim.

He has also been pleasantly surprised by the demand for powered access machinery - and not just from professionals. Furloughed homeowners were hiring items like diesel booms to repoint walls and other jobs they otherwise would not have had time to do.