Integral industry brands
Apart from HireTech, there were a number of brands that advertised regularly in the early Hire News issues that have gone on to become integral suppliers to our industry over the last 40 years. Brands like Youngman, Bosch, Makita, Stihl, Obart, Stanley and Husqvarna are all prominent in the 1970s issues.
Many more like Wolf, Kango, Errut, Norton, Clipper, Black & Decker, Williams & James have all been taken over and joined larger groups - losing their identity in the process, many would argue. Others that advertised on Front Covers in those early years like Skil, Allam, Mills Scaffold and Firthbourn, to name but a few, seem to have disappeared without trace.
Hire News Supper Party
At the 1974 Hirex held at the Excelsior Hotel at Heathrow, the guest at the Hire News supper party was entertainer Roy Castle. Tickets were £5.50. In addition, there was a coach service to London’s West End with tickets available for a number of leading shows. Amazing - and we thought that we were bringing something new to our hire industry with the Executive Hire Show. It’s all been done before - and probably done better!
In January 1974, John Rogers had also led a party of hirers to New Orleans to visit the American Rental Association. Commenting on the trip, he wrote ‘the biggest single benefit is simply the fact of being together. Together to freely swap experiences, to discuss problems, new ideas and so on. This friendly attitude and co-operation amongst hire firms is a great foundation for the future.’
From the outset, Hire News published ‘Focus’ articles on hire companies. Power Tool Hire Co. of Hull kicked things off in the first issue, followed by such luminaries as Uni-Rents of Bournemouth, Hire-A-Tool of Fareham, Jewsons of Norwich, Harrison Hire of Liverpool, M & J Engineers, Hiretech itself, and, Brandon Hire, which incidentally, is also celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year.
The early issues of Hire News were almost entirely printed in black and white, with the occasional second colour. The general layout style began to evolve and the first four colour adverts started to appear during 1975, although most were garish, as designers experimented with the new technology. In the January 1976 Hirex Preview issue, the ‘classic’ Hire News masthead was established, together with a dedicated colour section within the issue. The Hirex Show Guide was also bound into the centre of that issue.
The pioneer publishers of Hire News in the 1970s deserve huge credit for the magazine they created with the full support of the industry’s founder, John Rogers. Recognising the untapped potential that the tool and equipment hire industry offered, they also showed great vision to develop the Hirex exhibition within their first year of publishing. They have left 40 year publishing, and 38 year exhibition, legacies that we, as the current team, try to build on. The 2013 Executive Hire Show seems like an exciting opportunity to celebrate another milestone in our industry’s
development. •
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