000739 - Tool Hire Top Ten 23/1/09 19:13 Page 6
A-PLANT TOOL HIRE HIREBASE
Chief Executive (A-Plant) Sat Dhaiwal Hire Director Adrian Watts
M.D. (Plant & Tools Division) Paul Fereday Head Office Gemini One, 5520 Oxford Business Park South,
Head Office 102, Dalton Avenue, Birchwood Park, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2LL
Warrington, WA3 6YE Telephone Number 01865 871700
Telephone Number 01925 281000 Website www.hirebase.co.uk
Website www.aplant.com Hire activities Tools and small plant
Hire activities A wide range of plant and tools, including Geographical coverage From Shetland to Crawley, and Norwich to Exeter
lifting, surveying, drilling, surface preparation Status Division of Buildbase - a subsidiary of Irish
and dust extraction equipment registered Grafton Group plc
Geographical coverage National
Status Subsidiary of Ashtead Group plc
COMMENT
Adrian Watts says that Hirebase is budgeting for further growth in 2009
A-PLANT RESULTS REPORTED AS PART OF ASHTEAD
GROUP’S INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED
due to the momentum of its recent expansion. Over the last 18
31.10.08 (IN BRIEF)
months, the company has increased its number of locations by 25% to
31.10.08 (£ m) 31.10.07 (£ m) % Change
49. These have all been established as greenfield sites and their
Revenues 109.5 108.5 +0.9
developing maturity should enable Hirebase to increase revenues.
Operating profit before exceptionals and amortisation The company will open a further five depots in January 2009 and aims
14.2 16.5 -13.9 for five more in the rest of this year. At present all the Hirebase outlets
Exceptional items and amortisation
are within Buildbase locations. Adrian Watts is confident that the hirer
(12.2) ----- ------
will produce revenue growth of around 30% in the current year.
Operating profit 2.0 16.5 -87.9
As the majority of Hirebase operations are relatively new and it has a
COMMENT policy of building up its locations slowly - starting with just two
employees, then expanding to three in the second year and four in
In early December, when Ashtead Group published its half year
the third - it is much less likely to be faced with the redundancy and
results to 31 October 2008, it also announced that it had embarked
cost cutting problems of its larger competitors.
upon a restructuring programme to generate cost savings of £45m
per annum. As part of this exercise, the Group is reducing the plant
SUPPLY UK HIRE SHOPS LTD
fleets of both its US-based Sunbelt and of A-Plant by 7%.
The equipment will be sold through a series of auctions in the first
Managing Director Richard Coffey
three months of 2009; the disposals will comprise a broad range of
Head Office Lowry House, Opal Court, Moselely Road,
Fallowfield, Manchester, M14 6ZT
equipment, but mainly the lighter end of earthmoving equipment.
Telephone Number 0161 224 4600
Website www.supplyuk.co.uk
The implementation of the restructuring programme has led to an
Hire activities Tools and equipment, survey and laser
exceptional charge of £36m in the first half; in the main this relates to Geographical coverage N. England, Midlands, S. Wales and S.E. England
the impairment of those assets to be sold and to the provision for
Status Private company
future rents on properties where closure has already been announced.
COMMENT
Ashtead has indicated that it expects to take a further charge of about
£19m in the second half. However, fleet disposals are expected to
The current stage of Supply UK’s development sees it reaching out
generate net cash inflows of between £25m-£30m by April 2009.
beyond the north west, central England and south Wales, where it
now has an established presence, to come nearer to national
coverage with openings in what Richard Coffey describes as
“key areas” such as the central belt of Scotland, the north east and
south coast of England. Supply UK’s ambitious expansion of recent
years has meant that the company has seen a change in its client
base with the company in an increasingly strong position to challenge
its larger national competitors. Richard says that the company is
continuing to grow its share of the hire market and that, while other
hirers felt the impact of the downturn in November, that month was
Supply UK’s best ever. He further adds that Supply UK’s transition to
a national player is being recognised by major hire customers and
attracting their interest.
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