30.10.2009

HSS shifts machines from Ireland to UK

HSS Hire, is establishing a Laois Hire depot in London that will see a transfer of aerial lifts and other equipment from Ireland to the UK in order “to put down roots in the UK plant sector”.

The company is bringing equipment from Laois Hire (part of the HSS Ireland) to its UK Beckton supercentre location - to “meet demand in the Greater London area” - where HSS will now also offer a wider range, including diggers, dumpers, rollers, excavators and large booms and lifts.
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Just one of the machines moving to the UK -

The Laois Hire range will be available to customers in the London area from 1st November, serviced through HSS Beckton but available to rent from its other 50 locations in the Greater London area.

Laois Plant has also reached an agreement in Ireland with Skylift Hire, and is extending this to its new location in the UK, with a number of the Laois units being shipped to the UK coming from the Skylift fleet.

Jon Overman, managing director for HSS in the London area said: “For obvious reasons, there’s a lot of demand for this kind of equipment in east London at the moment. Our customers want to work with us for all their hire requirements, even beyond our core range, and in response to that we’ve decided to add plant items to our fleet for the first time.

“Of course, we’ve always been able to source plant equipment – our One Call service can track down pretty much anything any customer wants, wherever they want it – but having our own stock means we’ll now be even more responsive to customer demand”.

Michael Killeen, managing director of HSS Hire Ireland and Laois Hire, added: “From humble beginnings in County Laois over 20 years ago, Laois Hire has grown to be a national supplier of plant and tool hire. As part of HSS Hire, I’m delighted to now introduce our products and services to the UK too”.

We asked John Cusack of Skylift Hire for confirmation of its involvement with the Laois move. His statement said:"As part of our ongoing expansion and growth we are delighted to be associated with Laois Hire / HSS to re-rent machines to their new London location. We wish them every success in this venture. We would also like to point out that this re-rental service is available to our colleagues at Access Link or any other hire company".

Vertikal Comment

This makes sense for HSS, in that the Irish rental market is very slow and unlikely to pick up anytime soon, in the meantime there is growing demand in East London to service the Olympic infrastructure construction.

HSS has traditionally limited its own offerings to equipment that is light enough to fit on its 3.5 tonne delivery trucks or trailers.

This move will certainly help the Irish market, the question is whether this is a long term change in HSS strategy or just an expedient move to overcome a problem or take advantage of a one off opportunity?