Business profile
The company hires portable track repair and renewals equipment, trackside lighting and related support services to railway infrastructure renewals and maintenance companies
orrent started in the early 1970's in Rugeley Staffordshire as a small tool hire company. Its involvement in the rail industry began in 1995 when the company purchased its first rail specific plant.
T Rail activities quickly expanded and
in 1997, Vp (then Vibroplant) purchased the company and embarked on a major development programme to make Torrent a market leader and the only dedicated rail portable plant hirer with a national depot network.
Soon afterwards, the company moved to its existing head office in Lichfield and now operates from depots in Glasgow, Bolton, Bristol, Rotherham, Lichfield, Harlow and Canning Town, providing national coverage. Further expansion over the last 12 months has driven the need for Torrent Trackside to expand its geographical footprint across the UK and look at larger facilities. In fact, Torrent is moving from its current location at Harlow to a new facility in Tottenham, bringing it closer to its customer base in London. There is also a move from the company's Rotherham site to a new 13,000 sq ft facility to support the incredible expansion seen in the area. Further growth of the depot network is also taking place in Carlisle and Durham and both these facilities will be shared with Vp's sister business Hire Station.
Vibrant and dynamic As Torrent’s reputation grew, so too did the opportunities to expand the range of plant and operational divisions with the addition of trackside lighting, operator training, external services (where the company repairs third parties’ plant) and temporary traffic management. It also holds the UK and Eire agency for the FTI cold expansion range of products. The company is constantly looking to enhance the quality of its service and works closely with major manufacturers in product development. This, together with its ongoing investment in the
latest technology, ensures it stays at the forefront of this evolving market.
Compliance and safety
The safety and compliance of people and equipment is of paramount importance throughout the business and the industry. Being a dedicated rail industry supplier Torrent conforms to all recognised industry standards. It holds engineering acceptance certification for all its safety critical plant and Link-up qualification for its full range of business activities. The company also holds ISO (quality) accreditation and was the first rail plant hirer to attain ISO 14001 (environmental) accreditation.
As a member of the Construction Plant Hire Association (CPA) and founder members of the Rail Plant Association (RPA), business is undertaken using these widely accepted terms and conditions. The training division is also a member of the Association of Railway Training Providers (ARTP). Torrent Trackside has been RIDDOR free for four years - a great achievement, but the business has a constant focus on continual improvement. Safety and compliance has become part of the culture and the team at Torrent are highly trained and extremely vigilant. More importantly there is a constant flow of communication across the business relating to safety, compliance and the search for higher standards.
Rail portable plant Torrent’s plant hire division specialises in rail portable plant. It supplies an
July/August 2013 Page 107
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148