In the right Key

2 September 2020

Business has recovered so strongly that this could turn out to be a record year for Frank Key Plant & Tool Hire.

Group Hire Manager, Craig Wheldale, tells me that all 15 of the Nottingham-based operation’s depots are now fully open and very, very busy.

“Initially demand was driven by people deciding they would not being able to go on holiday and using the money to improve their homes and gardens. The cash side of the business has gone up tremendously.

Even busier 

“When sites reopened and contractors started going back to work, account spending picked up and it’s now absolutely unbelievable. We were really busy before the lockdown and now we’re even busier,” Craig says.

Small plant is particularly in demand from landscapers and building contractors. Indeed, Frank Key Tool Hire has just ordered four new Bobcat E10 1-tonne mini excavators, four E17 1.7-tonners and one 3-tonne E26 model to boost its fleet.

Other new additions include thirty more Altrad Belle PCLX 320 compaction plates.

Long-term installations

“Contractors are doing a lot of work in car parks and installing one-way flow systems at commercial premises,” says Craig. “Initially managers were using temporary barriers and signs to direct visitors, but now they realise this is for the longer term, as part of the 'new normal'. So they are installing permanent fixtures like fencing and more robust barriers.

“Businesses are also administering more transactions on-line, on a click-and-collect basis, and customers need to have designated parking areas with clear routeways.”