One Stop Hire buys Lord
19 July 2021
The company was only mentioned on the blog last week as they celebrated their 50th anniversary, but it was announced today that Lord Hire Centres has been acquired by One Stop Hire Ltd.
Based in Newcastle and with eight depots across the north east of England, the Lord name is highly respected in the industry.
The acquisition is an excellent move for One Stop Hire and it increases the company’s depot network to 25 covering the North West, North East, Yorkshire and Midlands.
Steve Hitchen, managing director and co-owner of One Stop Hire along with his wife, Danielle, commented: “When the opportunity to buy Lord Hire Centres came along it was perfect timing as we were looking at the North East as an area to move into due to customer demand.
“Also, with the recent announcement of the new 'giga factory' to be built for electric battery production in the North East and the government’s commitment to ‘levelling up’ the country, demand is set to grow further.
“The opportunity to get such a long-established business, with what is a perfect network of branches in the region, was compelling. It became obvious that the business was very much aligned with One Stop Hire in terms of its family-owned, family-run culture. Lord is a fantastic operation and it ticks all the boxes. It’s really exciting.
“They have very experienced and dedicated staff whose customer focus replicates our own so we are delighted to welcome them into our family. Both businesses have some strong attributes and services that will complement each other and benefit the existing clients on both sides.
“We would particularly like to wish Chris Rowley, long-standing managing director and son-in-law of Reg Lord, the founder of Lord Hire, the very best in his retirement.”
All the other Lord Hire personnel are being retained. Steve Hitchen says that the depots will be re-branded as One Stop Hire within the next year or so but that the initial focus will be on integrating Lord’s systems and fleet.
This has been a busy year for One Stop Hire with a recent greenfield branch opening in Nottingham and soon Northampton, as well as developing its new lifting equipment division.
Steve Hitchen also tells me that the depots in Wigan and Wrightington, which are only three miles apart, will be combined shortly in a much larger facility located midway between the two.
Pictured are the senior management teams of both companies..
