EXECUTIVE REPORT
Freeman flies high
Few companies can say they once ran a helicopter hire business, but that is part of the history Telford-based Hire! Freeman can look back on, as it celebrates half a century of trading.
Hire! Freeman of Telford’s origins date back 50 years, and the success of this family-owned independent exemplifies how passionate hirers can adapt to combat challenges and successfully meet customer’s changing needs.
formed at Bewdley and, even, a helicopter hire business and pilot training school, following the purchase of such craft originally for rapid response and backup to support compressors that were supplied nationwide.”
Almost inevitably, given the diversity of its operations, and the individual interests and aspirations of different Freeman family members, the business group’s assets were split up in 1977. John Freeman Snr took control of the Telford operation, adopting the name Hire! Freeman, while his two brothers retained the other interests, including the original Bewdley company, which ultimately became known as Freemans Plant Hire. John Freeman Snr’s younger son, David, joined Hire! Freeman in 1981, and later managed a second depot that was opened in Kidderminster in 1986.
A helicopter hire business was once operated within the Freeman group.
In June 1961, the late John Freeman Snr founded his original business in Bewdley, Worcestershire, 25 miles south of Telford, having previously been involved in heavy plant since the 1940s. He saw an opportunity to supply smaller, non-operated machines including compressors, pumps and rollers. Simply called Freemans of Bewdley, the business was formed with his cousin, Tim Bloomer, who left it in 1964, at the same time as John Freeman’s brothers, Barry and Howard joined. Tim Bloomer left to set up his own plant hire business in Stafford, Bloomer Plant Hire (he would later establish another successful operation, Traction Equipment (Stafford) in 1970, initially as a plant dealership and then offering hire.) Before then, however, the four men worked together again when they formed the Telford operation, initially called Freeman-Bloomer, drawing on their collective experience to meet burgeoning regional demand. The Freemans eventually took sole control of the business in 1970, renaming it Freemans of Telford.
Era of great opportunity
“This was an era of great opportunity with considerable construction activity in the region,” said John Freeman’s elder son, also called John, who joined the Telford business in 1978 and became MD in 1988. “Everyone involved in the company had a passion not only for machinery, but also for serving hire customers efficiently and sourcing what they needed. A Land Rover, Rover/Triumph motor dealership and an electrical contracting activity had earlier been
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“Equipment hire is in the family’s DNA,” said John Freeman Jnr, who completed a technical apprenticeship at Westland Helicopters. “I grew up surrounded by machinery. I have memories of helping my father wash down towable compressors in the yard when I was three, barely as tall as the mudguards.
“We have always adapted to meet local demand and changing markets. In 2006 we took the decision to close our Kidderminster depot, as manufacturing activity in the town, which represented a large proportion of the customer base, had declined. Kidderminster was historically a centre for carpet making, but this had reduced
The company has maintained a steady level of investment in new equipment.
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