Q&A: Simon and Beverley Luscombe

23 July 2021

Simon and Beverley Luscombe are directors of Luscombe Plant & Tool Hire, the busy independent hire business which they founded 20 years ago in the southern Lake District town of Ulverston. It also includes a thriving retail operation and really is at the heart of the local community. Simon and Beverley are pictured with their son, Dan, who is also a director of the company. 

How’s business? Are any markets particularly strong?

It’s busy across the board. Diggers and dumpers are in constant demand and the DIY market is booming. People aren’t going abroad on holiday and are spending the money on home improvements instead. There must be some stunning gardens being landscaped at the moment! 

What are some of the most recent additions you’ve made to the hire fleet? 

More Bobcat micros (we’ve now got 11), a Mecalac 6-tonne dumper, and more equipment from Altrad Belle like plate compactors, 1-tonne dumpers, mixers and power floats. And we’ve ordered two more 5-tonne minis from JCB.

That’s quite a number of different plant brands. 

Yes, but we believe it’s better dealing with several companies. It helps them and we can sometimes get a better deal! Working on different machines and obtaining spares from various suppliers doesn’t pose any issues at all for us. 

What are the last three items you put out on hire?

Two 5-tonne diggers and a 6-tonne dumper for a local construction project.  

What do you think are the main challenges facing the industry? 

One is the phasing out of red diesel next April. Making construction companies use white diesel while farmers and certain other users can keep filling up with red is bound to cause issues. Another challenge is that, if interest rates go up, some businesses might find they’ve over-committed themselves with CBILS and Bounce-Back loans. 

What’s the oddest or most challenging hire request you’ve ever received?

Quite honestly, every day has its challenges but we just take everything in our stride. We just get on with it and do what the customer needs. 

What annoys/frustrates you? 

People who don’t take care of machines. Why are some so lazy that they can’t remove concrete from equipment before off-hiring it? You accept genuine damage from accidents, but neglect is unforgivable really. Simon’s pet hate is the automated call centres that so many big organisations use now; and Beverley dislikes aggressive customers – not that we encounter many.

What was your favourite school subject?

Simon: sport, particularly rugby. I played in the local Furness team into my late forties. Beverley: English and history. To be honest, we both weren’t particularly keen on school – although that’s where we met, more than 40 years ago. 

How did you both get into the industry? 

Simon trained as a herdsman after leaving school and worked for a local farmer, which involved repairing lots of machinery. He then started working in groundworks and eventually set up his own construction business, which is still active. People often asked to borrow the equipment, so we started the hire company. Initially it was based in our garage, and then we rented a barn to house the growing amount of equipment in the fleet. 

I understand there were some initial challenges? 

Simon and Dan worked away a lot on groundworks projects in the early years and also playground installations, which were something of a speciality for hotels and other premises. So Beverley ran the hire business on her own for most of the time. She had previously worked as a waitress (juggling shifts while the children were very young) and then began helping with food preparation. This was great experience in hospitality and customer care, which lent itself to hire, as the industry is all about service. The hire business just kept growing and we moved to our current premises, a former car showroom, in 2014.

If things had been different, what other career might you have chosen?

Simon [laughing]: Perhaps being a brain surgeon! But seriously, the construction industry and hire have been very good to us, so I can’t imagine doing anything else. Beverley: I would like to run a boutique hotel. I love dealing with people and customer service – that’s why I enjoy managing the busy retail side of our business here. 

What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever been given, or that you would pass on to others?

Beverley: Treat people as you would expect to be treated yourself. Simon: I would agree with that. Also, the best advice I was ever given was from a business friend when we were looking to relocate Luscombe Plant & Tool Hire from our earlier site in Arrad Foot [a hamlet in Ulverston]. I’d been looking at premises ten miles away in Barrow-in-Furness, which is a bigger town, but he said we should choose Ulverston because we’ve lived in the area all our lives and so many people know us. Looking back, he was absolutely right. Hire is all about people. 

Tell me a surprising fact about yourselves or the business.

[Both laughing] It’s quite amazing that we’re still together after knowing each other for 44 years! 

Do you follow a particular sport and/or team? 

Beverley’s not interested in sport at all, but Simon’s mad on rugby, supporting England and the Lions. 

What new skill would you like to learn?

Simon: I’d like to play a musical instrument, perhaps the guitar. Beverley: I’ve just bought a paddle board. It’s great! I used it on Coniston Water recently, alongside Simon in a dinghy that he has. The surrounding scenery was fabulous – it’s easy to forget how beautiful the local landscape is. 

What’s the secret of success? 

Hard work, patience and having a good family around you. 

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Depends how much! But quite honestly, we can’t imagine what we would do differently. And with Covid-19 at the moment, that restricts you anyway.   

Finally, is there anything you would like to add about the business, the current trading outlook or future plans? 

We don’t like to plan in any great detail because you just need one thing to go wrong and it can affect everything else. So for the foreseeable future we’ll just keep serving our customers and expanding the hire fleet. 

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