Positive Thinking
30 August 2023
ThinkHire has established itself quickly since its foundation in 2018 to design and manufacture solar and other sustainable power technology which the company now hires to customers in construction and other markets.
The business is headed up by Managing Director Neil Richardson, pictured above, who previously worked with the specialist welfare and site equipment hirer Garic.
Seeing an opportunity to supply environmentally friendly equipment, he and other partners focused initially on power generation. "Every site requires a power source and increasingly needs to find the most energy efficient and cost-effective one for sustainability,” said Neil.
The company’s name reflects its aim of addressing equipment procurement in new ways and could lend itself to encompassing other kinds of products in the future. Indeed, ThinkHire has already expanded its equipment portfolio. In December the business moved to a larger facility in Chadderton, north east of Manchester, having quickly outgrown two earlier sites.
ThinkHire manufactures many of the products it supplies and works closely with customers to determine what package of equipment suits their needs in terms of power output and carbon savings. Maintenance and performance reports are provided and in some cases bespoke items can be developed.
The pandemic and lockdowns obviously posed a major challenge to the fledgling business but while many companies had to temporarily close and furlough staff, ThinkHire remained open and actually expanded its operation.
“Key workers and essential services remained open, and construction sites found they could socially distance staff easily, so we decided to support them all we could,” said Neil. “We restructured our workforce to enable 24-hour working and we told existing and prospective customers that we were open for business. We picked up new clients as a result.
“With so many people furloughed and not commuting to work, many construction sites, rail networks and highways contractors took the opportunity to get maintenance work done and many approached us for their general equipment needs. We were even sourcing and supplying toilet rolls."
ThinkHire’s flagship product is the Solartainer, a power source combining a battery pack with solar panels and a backup generator. This is offered in a range of capacities and in single or 3-phase.
The company designs and manufactures its battery storage units with capacities from 3kW to 200kW and currently has more than 200 in its fleet. Components and suppliers are sourced locally where possible. Electric vehicle (EV) chargers are included in the range, along with site lighting and portable power packs.
Besides the Chadderton head office, ThinkHire has depots in Harpenden and Lanark, with more scheduled to open soon. The business also has a presence in Dubai.
Backup services and support are as integral to the ThinkHire operation as are its sustainable products. The company has developed its own telematics portal that it has integrated with the Syrinx system from Point of Rental Software, and this monitors sites remotely to prevent site disruption, as well as providing customers with data on fuel usage and savings, power generation details and carbon reductions.
ThinkHire has also developed a fascinating software package derived from a computer gaming platform to represent sites in virtual reality. This can provide a range of important information, from showing where solar equipment should be positioned for optimum performance, to the future need to manage tree canopies and branches as they grow in order to keep a site operating efficiently.
Photo (above): Alan Guthrie
