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PROFILE HIRE4LOWER


The company plans to add more space soon at its Sail Street premises.


“Good times ahead”


Hire4Lower is celebrating a decade of successful trading and is poised for further expansion. Alan Guthrie reports from Lambeth.


EHN profiled Hire4Lower back in our December 2004 issue, soon after the company was established, and it has expanded steadily since. The business was founded in November 2003 by MD Colin Tall and former Sales Director Ian Murphy, who left the organisation in 2006 to pursue other interests. Both had previously worked together at the Southwark depot of A-Plant, and they wanted to discover what they could achieve themselves, running their own independent hire business.


mixers. The largest plant we offer could be described as wheeled items that can be carried on a delivery vehicle. We will re-hire bigger machines as necessary.”


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Hire4Lower has seen steady growth throughout its ten years, apart from an understandable dip in 2008-09 as the recession set in. Colin says that the 12 months of trading up to May 2013 was the company’s most successful year yet. “We believe the reason for our success is that we genuinely offer a complete service, at a competitive price. There are many hirers offering many different things, but if you ensure you tick all the boxes, then it sets you apart from the competition.


‘Welcome pack’


“Too many hirers have tried to take an easy path by cutting rates to win business - but that is a strategy you will never hear mentioned in any credible sales training course! We ask customers about where they are working, what they are doing and the equipment they will need both now and later in the project, and we build relationships. When a new customer’s site opens, we deliver a free ‘welcome pack’ containing essential items ranging from our corporate pens, notepads and mugs, to chocolate biscuits, tea, coffee and, even, toilet rolls.


Colin Tall says that Hire4Lower “has just kept growing.”


The company grew quickly, and in April 2005 it re-located from its original premises in Bermondsey to a larger facility in Sail Street, in nearby Lambeth, occupying two former railway arches. “This gave us double the space, with approximately 5,000ft2 further 2,500ft2


internally and a of yard area,” said Colin, who entered the industry


in 1990 working for Kendrick Hire. “We have just kept growing, and we now employ 14 staff. We could do with more space and we hope to be able to rent the railway arch next door but one, which might soon become available. We often re-hire equipment, not because we won’t invest, but for the simple reason that we lack storage facilities for large kit. For example, we own more than 60 sets of podium steps, and if they all came back off-hire at the same time, it would be a challenge to accommodate them. However, we have continued to increase the fleet. We have spent approximately £40,000 on additional Alto mobile tower this year alone, simply to meet customer demand.


“When the business started, we concentrated on supplying small tools and equipment that would generate a quick return on investment, and we have gradually expanded our portfolio to include items like super-silent generators up to 6kVA, materials lifts and


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“Our name reflects what we do. By offering a complete service, we reduce overall costs. Price is just one element: our customers appreciate the fact that our equipment is available, reliable, delivered and collected when we say it will be, so they can work efficiently, and the paperwork behind the transactions is straightforward and accurate. We give a higher standard of service at a lower cost.


“Customers can get everything they need from a single source.”


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