SHC buys Hartley Hire

9 September 2021

SHC Hire has completed the acquisition of tool and plant hire company Hartley Hire in a seven-figure deal that more than doubles the firm's depot network.  

This represents the first step towards increasing the company’s presence across the north of England, according to managing director Neil Bravery.     

Family-run Hartley Hire was founded in 1984 and has branches in Windermere, Kendal, Carnforth, Lancaster (pictured above) and Morecambe. These will complement SHC’s depots in Skipton, Ilkley, Ripon and Northallerton. 

All 12 members of Hartley Hire staff have been retained, and this arm of the business will now be led by Regional Director Lee Hallsworth, who has rejoined SHC after five years away from the business. He was previously SHC’s operations manager.  

The deal comes as SHC celebrates its 40th anniversary. The business was founded by Claire Gains in 1981 as Skipton Hire Centre Ltd, and was the subject of a management buyout in 2016 led by Neil Bravery and Financial Director, Richard Palmer. 

Neil, who was recently installed as Chairman of the HAE, added: “Hartley Hire is a company that shares our values and there is a real synergy between the two businesses. This acquisition will benefit our regional clients in both Yorkshire and the south Lake District and North Lancashire. 

“This is our first purchase since the MBO, and it is just the start of things to come. In the coming months we’ll be rolling out a new brand proposition that reflects the addition of Hartley Hire to the SHC group.”  

• Below: Neil Bravery recently welcomed Rishi Sunak to SHC’s Northallerton depot, which is in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Richmond (Yorks) constituency. 

Read the earlier Q&A interview with Neil here. 

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