Welfare 4 Hire hits 500
2 August 2022
Welfare 4 Hire is in expansive mood. The specialist hirer has just opened its fifth depot, with more locations in the pipeline, and according to managing director Mel Gould, the company is very busy and growing its fleet to meet demand.
The latest branch is a 10,000 sq ft facility located at Birtley in Durham, and was opened last month to target the north east of England. It complements the company's headquarters in Farnborough and its other locations in Moreton-in-Marsh, Nantwich (opened in January) and Wymeswold, Leicestershire, which between them cover the majority of the country.
A recent high-profile contract was supplying welfare units for use by the organisers of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations at Buckingham Palace in June, pictured above.
Welfare 4 Hire, which employs 23 people, was acquired in May 2021 by the AER Rents group whose backing has accelerated its growth strategy. Indeed, a sixth depot in Scotland is scheduled to open by the end of this year and there are plans for further locations serving Northern Ireland, Devon & Cornwall and the Essex/Kent border.
Mel has been with the business for five years and was officially appointed as MD on January 1. National sales manager Jamie Rusko joined at the end of last year and, between them, they have more than 50 years’ hire industry experience.
“We offer a very hands-on, personal approach and we are available seven days a week, 24/7 to meet customers’ requirements,” Mel (pictured below) told me.
"We continue to invest in the latest products and we have a very young, modern hire fleet. The average age of our welfare units is just under one year.”
The fleet comprises entirely products manufactured by AJC EasyCabin and includes welfare units for six, ten, 12 and 16 people, as well as mobile toilets.
“Since September last year we have ordered another 240 units,” said Mel. “We took delivery of our five hundredth unit in July and that figure will have reached nearly 600 by the end of the year.”
The considerable majority of Welfare 4 Hire’s customers are in the construction sector, with a smaller proportion in events. So the fact that business continues to be so strong is a positive sign for the wider industry, too.