Hird picks up strongly

6 August 2020

Pressing ahead with expansion plans during the pandemic has paid dividends for Humberside-based Hird.

The company hires and sells pick-and carry-cranes, tracked spider machines and powered access equipment. It has duly established its fourth location at Halesowen in April, complementing others in Redhill, Doncaster and the Hull headquarters.

The new facility was officially opened recently and Sales Manager Carl Cooper tells me that business is brisk.

Increasing the hire fleet

“We’d been looking at opening a depot in the Birmingham area for some time and we virtually had everything in place by April. So we just pressed ahead. We have just appointed Alan Peck as General Manager and it is very, very busy to the point that we are buying more machines for the hire fleet.”

Carl believes that some of this demand is from contractors who have taken advantage of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme which provides government-backed finance to support smaller businesses whose cashflow has been disrupted by the outbreak.

Hird’s main product brands include Valla mini cranes and Winlet glass installation robots. Battery powered versions are available that are proving popular with clients who need to improve their carbon footprint.

New working requirements

Carl adds that the machines are enabling site managers to comply with new working requirements. “People are realising that a product like a vacuum robot enables them to do a job with, say, two workers instead of four, making it easier to maintain social distancing.”

He says that Hird expects to announce new distributorships for several additional lifting products later this year, and the company is currently recruiting Business Development Managers for the South and Midlands regions.