HireTech bought by US firm
11 September 2023
Floor sander and wallpaper stripper manufacturer, Hire Technicians Group, one of the UK hire industry’s iconic companies which supplies HireTech branded products, is now in American ownership.
The Watford-based business, which also serves several overseas markets, has been bought by Amano Pioneer Eclipse Corp (APEC) of New Carolina, a worldwide manufacturer of commercial floor care equipment and chemicals.
The HireTech product line includes a disc edger, orbital sander and a line of drum sanders designed specifically for the hire industry.
“With HireTech’s established presence in the UK, Europe, and Australia, this acquisition allows APEC to further expand its geographic reach into the international rental markets” said Tom Benton, APEC CEO.
“This acquisition complements our American Sanders brand of wood floor products which have a well established distribution in the tool rental market, primarily in North America.”
The original Hire Technicians Group was established in March 1955 by the late John Rogers alongside his electrical equipment supply and servicing business in Wembley (pictured below) and it was the very first tool hire company in the UK, eventually establishing a network of eight depots in the south east of England.
In 1974, HireTech acquired the right to the USA's Clarke floor sanders and started manufacturing the machines, which it had distributed and offered in its own hire fleet for many years. In 1998, the hire activity was sold in order to concentrate on manufacture.
In 2019 the business was acquired by VPEG (Venture Precision Engineering Group), and its manufacturing operation was combined with that of Nu-Tech Engineering Services, a VPEG company with a factory in Dorset. HireTech itself relocated to an industrial unit in Watford.
HireTech distributes its sanding machines and other products throughout the UK, Europe, Australia and North America. APEC states that manufacturing and operations will remain based in the UK.
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