Treble for Dorset Hire
9 June 2021
When I checked, I was amazed to see that it is almost exactly a year ago – shortly after launching the blog in June – that I spoke to Luke George about how busy his company was despite the lockdown. Talking to him again recently, the business is still motoring.
Luke is managing director of Dorset Hire Services which has depots in Shaftesbury and Evercreech, the latter trading under the name Somerset Hire Services. Now he has opened depot number three, pictured, in Frome.
“It’s the town where I actually started in hire, working for the former Frome Hire Centre (eventually acquired by Sydenhams Hire Centres),” says Luke, who founded his business five years ago. “It was always an ambition to set up a depot there.”
The new operation is situated on a trading estate, occupying part of a building that was used by a construction training business. “Last year I heard they were moving more of their operation to a large site on nearby farmland and just needed a smaller presence on the estate. So the remaining buildings, workshops and yard space are ideal for us,” says Luke.
The training company already hires plant and equipment from Somerset Hire Services for practical demonstrations and this should lead to future business from users who see the company’s name and logo on the machinery.
“I was buying lot of new kit in readiness but it’s been so busy that the two existing shops have pretty much swallowed it up," says Luke. "We’re also experiencing machinery shortages, like many hirers. But we finally opened Frome in mid-May.
“We have virtually doubled the fleet over the past year, buying more Takeuchi excavators, JCB and Thwaites dumpers, Ammann rollers and Bobcat machines. The demand is there and we have just gone for it. We’ve now got more than 60 diggers in the fleet up to 14 tonnes.”
The manager at Frome is Alex George, Luke’s brother, who once worked with him at Frome Hire Centre.
● Dorset Hire Services responded to a literally steep challenge last year, which you can read all about here.
