EXECUTIVE REPORT
P.E.T’s bright outlook
Purpose-designed and built, P.E.T Hire’s imposing new premises have added an eye-catching attraction to Crewe town centre. Alan Guthrie assesses the facility.
When EHN profiled P.E.T Hire back in November 2008, we described its sizeable premises in Crewe as “impressive and unmissable”. Founded in 1974, the business had moved to that site, which was originally a car showroom, in 1985, and had steadily extended the building by acquiring other properties and land around it, including a bus depot, to cope with its on-going expansion. A scaffolding hire activity, P.E.T Scaff, was re-located to a dedicated site nearby, but more space was constantly needed.
purchased a pub that was next door, together with a disused playing field, so that the entire area could be re-developed. What then took the time was obtaining the appropriate planning approvals.”
The buildings on the site were demolished, and Carl, who trained in graphic design before joining P.E.T Hire full-time, did the drawings for the new facility. “Initially, I thought of keeping an area aside as a separate retail unit to let, but my wife, Barbara, who is Office Manager, believed we would need the whole site. This proved the right decision as it allowed us to design an even more imposing building, and we will inevitably keep expanding. Construction started in January 2014 and took eight months. We kept trading from our old location until we found a buyer for it, and eventually moved last August.”
P.E.T’s impressive showroom covers 13,500ft2 .
“Although we had another yard close by to store equipment, we were forever having to move machines to get to other items,” said Carl Banks, MD of the company, which was Joint Winner of the Passionate Hirer Award in the Large Hire ‘Super Centre’ category in 2011. “Approximately ten years ago, for example, we had 15 powered access machines, but today we have 85, having bought 50 in the last three years alone, ranging from scissor lifts to 4x4 booms. We had used every bit of available space, and we had nine separate title deeds for the various plots we had acquired over the years.
“We started looking in earnest for new premises five years ago. They had to be close to the existing location, as we had been in the centre of Crewe for 25 years. People know us and see our brand daily. So when a retail site just 500 yards away became vacant, it was ideal. We bought it in 2011, and then
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The gradual expansion of the previous location had resulted in various parts of the building being devoted to different areas of the business. Designing the new site from scratch meant it could be purpose-built, and Carl wanted to create “a bright, open atmosphere with a clear ‘corridor’ taking customers from their entry point to the counter areas. We actually have two entrances, one in regular use and the other on the adjacent side overlooking the high street, which has extra-high doors to allow us to drive large equipment in to create eye-catching displays. The larger glass panels increased the cost, but it looks inviting and the double frontage means people can see us from the main approaches into the town centre.
With two imposing entrances, the premises can easily be seen from the main approaches to Crewe town centre.
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