Under pressure?
31 May 2021
How are your costs shaping up? I bet they’re not decreasing. In fact, they seem to be rising for virtually everyone and a good example is in construction.
While the media wer…
News for Tool Hire, Equipment Hire & Plant Hire and Rental Professionals
Previous Posts - May 2021
Mobile Mini’s big success
28 May 2021
It’s a big feather in Mobile Mini UK’s cap that its SHEQ (safety, health, environment and quality) team has been highly commended in the Safety Team of the Year category by the Bri…
How to get hired
28 May 2021
UK employers are at their most optimistic about recruitment for five years according to a recent report.
A survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation suggests that bu…
Q&A: Andy Munford
28 May 2021
Andy Munford is managing director of Shindaiwa Ltd which supplies welder/generators and site lighting equipment. The company had a record year in 2020 and is on track for further expansion.&nb…
Long-life truck for Shorts
27 May 2021
Numerous characteristics to facilitate the loading of machinery have been incorporated on a new Andover Trailers plant body that the Shorts Group will use in its plant hire activity. …
HSC stalwart retires
27 May 2021
Time certainly passes quickly. Kevin Leaver retires tomorrow after spending 20 years as operations director of The Hire Supply Company, having been with the company since its foundation. …
Shindaiwa’s perfect 10
27 May 2021
In 2020 Shindaiwa Ltd celebrated its tenth anniversary which turned into a record year for the company. And the welding and lighting equipment supplier’s landmarks keep coming. …
Belt and braces
26 May 2021
An earlier blog post on a nasty fraudulent hire scam attracted comments on the wider issue of plant and equipment theft, and suggestions about protective measures that might be taken.
Hydrogen booster
26 May 2021
The Government has announced a £166.5m cash injection for green technology development in areas such as hydrogen fuel and carbon capture.
The investment is included as part o…
Supermarket sweep
25 May 2021
We’ve heard much about supermarkets adapting to provide more online shopping opportunities and the trend is having spin-offs for some hirers.
EPS Hire Centres, which has depo…
Speedy strengthens
25 May 2021
Speedy’s full year results announced today for the year ended 31 March 2021 show the business emerging strongly from the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and anticipating sustainable…
Demand surge in Devon
24 May 2021
A significant compact plant order from a hirer based in the south west of England suggests that the strong bounce back is being experienced throughout the country.
Tool Care Hire, which…
Hybrids for Magnor
24 May 2021
Magnor Plant, the Warwickshire based in-house plant business of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, has added 15 hybrid lighting towers from Trime UK to its fleet.
The X-Eco lithium hybrid LE…
JCB motors on hydrogen
22 May 2021
There was a fascinating article in a popular car magazine earlier this week about research at JCB into machinery powered by hydrogen motors. It went viral on social media and has been quickly…
Q&A: Murray Webster
21 May 2021
Murray Webster is MD of Webster Power Products in Wishaw, which has busy hire and sales divisions serving Scotland’s central belt and beyond. The business was founded by his parents in 1…
Sunbelt's Award haul
21 May 2021
Sunbelt Rentals carried off no fewer than four trophies in the HAE’s Hire Awards of Excellence 2021, presented yesterday during an online ceremony. A team member also won an individual A…
GAP goes greener
20 May 2021
GAP is driving forward with measures to help it achieve its environmental target of becoming net-zero by 2040.
In one of its latest initiatives, the company has developed a carbon…
Training in demand
20 May 2021
The easing of lockdown restrictions and the return for many to a regular workplace environment means that training is very much now back on the agenda to brush up on skills and learn new ones.…
Busy or burned out?
19 May 2021
Are you very busy? You most probably are. Hirers tell me this constantly – just scan a random selection of stories on the blog.
“You keep thinking, next week I might ge…
Getting paid
19 May 2021
Is your business getting paid on time? Some hirers tell me instances of customers demanding extra credit terms or citing reasons for delaying payment because of the pandemic.
There are a…
Scoop a Bobcat
18 May 2021
There’s less than a week left to enter a prize draw organised by a Bobcat dealer with the chance of winning a mini excavator.
A Bobcat E10z 1-tonne mini is the main prize in…
Creating stronger links
18 May 2021
Soon after yesterday’s blog post about the impact of delays and supply chain disruption in the wake of the pandemic, a key industry supplier coincidentally released details of the strenu…
Chain reaction
17 May 2021
A number of factors are making hirers and manufacturers re-evaluate their supply chains.
One is obviously the pandemic, which has caused factory shutdowns across the globe and crea…
HSC takes the floor
17 May 2021
Given the considerable popularity of surface preparation equipment in hire and the steady post-lockdown re-opening of commercial premises that need to be kept in good condition, The Hire Suppl…
Q&A: Paul Lewis
14 May 2021
Paul Lewis became MD of Phoenix Hire & Sales four years ago. This go-ahead business has depots in Bridgend, Cardiff, Cwmbran, Pontypridd and Swansea, a Survey hub in Pontypridd and a dedic…
High-power Atlas Copco
14 May 2021
Atlas Copco has added higher-capacity models to its ZenergiZe range of lithium-ion energy storage systems.
The newcomers carry the designation ZBC and have rated power outputs from 100kV…
Speedy’s green drive
13 May 2021
Speedy has appointed a dedicated environment, social and governance (ESG) director as the business increases its focus on sustainability.
Amelia Woodley, pictured below, joins from South…
First plan your route
12 May 2021
Time flies. It’s over a month since the last article on Peter Beach’s experiences with his new electric car, so it’s high time I gave an update.
Peter, sales and…
Green lights for Boels
12 May 2021
Boels Rental engineers recently adapted a significant number of mobile lighting towers for use at Covid-19 testing sites.
They modified 76 X-Chain LED models from Trime to run off a 240V…
Catch 22
11 May 2021
Wouldn’t it be good to have your entire equipment fleet out on hire? The strength of the bounce back shows that the answer is actually no.
The sharp rise in demand has led to a cha…
JCB lifts green award
11 May 2021
Providing further evidence of the impact that eco-friendly products are having, JCB has won an award recognising the environmental benefits of the electric variant of its Teletruk telescopic f…
Construction stays strong
10 May 2021
Another month, another set of positive construction output figures. But with them come the now rather familiar caveats, too.
UK construction companies responding to the Purchasing…
Two Volvos for Tilsley
10 May 2021
I keep hearing that mini excavators are in short supply but one company that’s managed to get its hands on two new Volvo machines is Tamworth-based Tilsley Plant Hire.
The business…
Q&A: Iain MacDonald
7 May 2021
Iain MacDonald is sales director with the busy independent Eagle Plant Hire, which has depots in Glasgow and Edinburgh and recently added a Survey & Safety activity. Iain entered the indus…
Calls for action
7 May 2021
One of the most widely read stories on the blog has been the cautionary tale about a hirer who fell victim to a fraudulent hire scam.
Criminals use what is known as number spoofing…
Stage V Kubota micros
6 May 2021
Again highlighting the significance of the new Stage V engine emissions regulations, Kubota has launched two micro excavators equipped with compliant power units.
Replacing the pop…
Don’t let the grass grow
5 May 2021
Demand for artificial turf to replace garden lawns is apparently booming. The number of people searching for information about it on the internet has risen sharply since the first lockdown.&nb…
Tackle workplace stress
5 May 2021
Stress, depression and anxiety are the second biggest cause of work-related ill health in the construction industry.
Recognising that starting a conversation with people is an important…
Speedy gears up for events
4 May 2021
With the vaccination programme proceeding at astonishing pace and the ongoing easing of lockdown restrictions, the events industry has its fingers crossed that it can gradually get back to doi…
Smiths expands again
4 May 2021
Reflecting the current strength of the market, Smiths Equipment Hire has opened yet another depot. The latest is in Castleford and brings the company's network to 15 locations, as well as its…
A Goldilocks recovery?
3 May 2021
Occasionally since launching the blog nearly a year ago, a story has raised the question of when more details will be given about the government’s plans for the economic recovery. <…