EXECUTIVE REPORT
Enhanced Prestige
West Midlands-based Prestige Hire, which has opened its second depot, is steadily expanding its range of activities. EHN reports.
Prestige Hire, which was established in West Bromwich ten years ago, has recently opened a second depot, reflecting an expanding customer base and increased business activity. Situated 15 miles away in Olton, near Solihull, the new branch enables the company to serve customers to the south of Birmingham, with West Bromwich now concentrating on clients to the north.
Prestige currently employs 15 staff throughout its operation and John Smith says there is a strong ethos of customer care. “We employ highly skilled and motivated individuals who are free from the need to satisfy any shareholders’ desires. Personnel are encouraged to make managerial decisions, and, in essence, our frontline staff who serve our customers on a daily basis are entrusted to run the business and can respond quickly.”
Additional investment in equipment has been made over the past year to meet the needs of the expanding operation. Recent purchases include five Wacker Neuson 1 tonne dumpers, Cormidi tracked dumpers from Ammann Equipment, additional Betaguard tower from Turner Access, and more Makita and Hilti power tools. Camon rotavators and stump grinders have also been added to the fleet, and these are in demand from customers at the new Olton depot, especially as Solihull and the surrounding area contains a high proportion of large homes with substantial gardens, whose owners want to keep them well maintained.
Additional revenue stream The Olton depot extends Prestige Hire’s coverage throughout the West Midlands.
“We spent 18 months looking for the right premises,” says MD John Smith. “We simply did not have any more room at West Bromwich to expand, and we needed to serve a wider area. Many of our existing customers whose work often took them to other locations said they would use us if they could, because they value our service and support.
“West Bromwich is already covering an area that extends as far as Telford, Shrewsbury, Stoke, Wolverhampton and parts of Wales, as well as Birmingham. We found ourselves winning customers farther south in areas like Warwick, Stratford and Rugby, and our new Olton depot can now build our activity in this region. The premises have substantial yard space, ample off-road parking and more than 300ft2 of showroom area.
New training division “The first floor gives us 1200ft2
of office space, and we have
established a training facility, which is a new division within the business. Called Total Training, it has a dedicated website (
www.total-training.uk.com) and again this reflects demand from our customers for such a service. We will be offering courses on topics such as abrasive wheels, manual handling, asbestos awareness and first aid, as well as PASMA and IPAF work at height training.”
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Unlike the West Bromwich facility, which is located on an industrial estate, the new building has sufficient space for an extensive display of retail items, ranging from diamond blades and drill bits, to high-viz jackets and wheelbarrows. “This represents an additional revenue stream that we have not been able to benefit from substantially until now,” says John Smith. “Our customers appreciate the fact that we can act as a ‘one-stop shop’ for consumables and accessories, as well as for their hired equipment.
A wider range of consumables is available from the new facility.
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