Are YOU busy?
18 November 2022
Are you busy? Well, it appears that many hirers and suppliers certainly are, despite recessionary rumblings and inflationary pressures that make business forecasting difficult.
One example is Clements Plant & Access Hire of Coventry, whose managing director Jim Longstaff told me recently: “Business is really, really good at the minute. I don’t subscribe to the doom, gloom and despondency that the media are suggesting about a possible huge crash in house prices and other predictions.
“There might be a correction regarding some of the inflationary pricing that has been spiralling upwards and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But at at the end of the day we are an island nation, the population is rising and we still aren’t building enough properties.”
In similar vein, when I spoke to Pat McCluskey, managing director of Hireline in Dalkeith, for a recent blog post, he said that “We’re very busy. There is a lot of house building in our area and generally speaking, construction is still buoyant. No one knows what lies ahead but at the moment I’m certainly not complaining.”
A well-known equipment supplier I spoke to was also very upbeat. “Some of our most popular machines are experiencing exceptional demand. We have a container-load more arriving at the end of November and it is 98 per cent sold already. We have another due by the end of December and that is 75 per cent sold. It is simply amazing.
“We’ve never been this busy. And the orders keep coming. Some of this is still due to the knock-on effects from Covid and facilities addressing backlogs of work. And hirers are placing orders as a result,” the supplier added.
Obviously challenges still lie ahead. As Jim Longstaff at Clements Plant said, “Inflation is still far higher than it should be, interest rates are rising and energy supplies could come under pressure in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.”
Indeed, householders have had to assess their finances as energy prices spiral and mortgage rates rise, perhaps by securing long-term price fixes, and the same is true for many business owners. But as in any other time of challenge, well-run organisations will win through.
“It’s going to be a hard and challenging 12 months ahead,” said Jim, “but hirers like ourselves should generally be in a good position to take advantage of opportunities that might come our way.”
Also in confident mood was Andrew Thompson, chief operating officer with the specialist hirer and supplier Cleveland Containers, whom I spoke to yesterday for a future blog post about the business.
“I think we often talk ourselves into a downturn,” he said. “The media are full of prophets of doom who might make some people want to curtail their business activities. But it’s how you deal with it. I’m a firm believer that the opportunities are out there.”
Indeed, Andrew said the company is pursuing vigorous expansion plans, investing in its fleet, broadening its activities and adding depots. It will also be recruiting extra people - more on these developments soon.
And across the Atlantic, United Rentals’ chief executive Matthew Flannery was upbeat about the US giant’s recently announced acquisition of Ahern Rentals for $2 billion, when speaking to investment analysts about the broader economic outlook.
“On a forward-looking basis our customers continue to be very positive and as we think about these emerging tailwinds of infrastructure kicking in, higher rates kicking in and auto [manufacturers] continuing to invest in EVs and energy, we see these as pretty substantial incremental sources of demand in any economic environment.”
A number of industry organisations have also highlighted positive growth measures announced yesterday in the chancellor’s Autumn Statement.
So stay positive and trust your own judgement.
Photo: Lukas
