01.06.2020

Sunbelt Rentals UK

Today is the official launch of the Sunbelt Rentals brand in the UK as Ashtead drops its A-Plant brand.

The move, announced in early March (see: A-Plant to become Sunbelt), follows a strategic review that included employees and customers. Sunbelt Rentals branding will be applied to all of A-Plant's 195 locations and its 18 specialist divisions in order to create “a single overall identity, whilst retaining the individual specialist activities and expertise".

As part of the change Sunbelt Rentals UK will also implement “a range of new processes and technology driven enhancements to its overall customer offering". It will also launch a new “sustainability strategy to focus on responsible ways of working, creating a positive environmental impact, whilst delivering social value and ensuring the creation of sustainable legacies for local communities".

Sunbelt UK chief executive Andy Wright added: "We are the largest rental company in the UK, and no one matches the solutions we can offer to our customers. We have an unrivalled range of specialisms, equipment and services, the scale of which only becomes clear to our customers when you see them all under one brand.”

“We are making a significant investment in our equipment fleet and business operations as well as continuing our ongoing investment in our people, so that we continue to build fantastic teams of highly engaged employees, who in turn will deliver great service to our customers.’’

“Through our team of empowered, engaged and motivated experts we have a shared mission - to deliver a world class rental experience. We believe that by rebranding the business to Sunbelt Rentals and by bringing together of all of our specialist businesses into one joined up group of complementary rental offerings, we are able to create the platform to be able do this.”

Vertikal Comment

The Sunbelt name has been used by Ashtead since it acquired the US based business - then a two store outlet based in Charlotte - in 1990. More recently the company made a series of acquisitions in Canada and all Canadian operations separated from the US to create Sunbelt Rentals Canada. Today the companies already operating as Sunbelt Rentals – those in North America – represent around 90 percent of total revenues so switching to the same branding for the UK business has some logic to it, while providing an opportunity to bring the UK’s various specialist divisions under a common brand.

The move will carry a substantial cost of course as branches and vehicles are all rebranded, not to mention the fleet, although the companies have shared the distinctive green and yellow livery for many years…