PROFILE continued
Tim Garland believes that much of Elvington Plant Hire’s success is due to providing good service, from out-of-hours support, to the readiness to expand the fleet to meet changing demand. “People might be able to hire or buy some items slightly cheaper elsewhere or on-line, but they will not get the same support, and our customers appreciate this. We charge a fair price for deliveries, and if anyone queries this, we ask them to compare it to the cost of a taxi - and we have the overheads of operating a sizeable transport fleet. Also, we raised our hire rates 12 months ago, reflecting increased costs from suppliers, and there has been little customer reaction as they understand the reasons.
The company continues to expand its plant fleet.
customers, such as extensive ground works. In many cases, it helps people start their stages of a contract sooner.”
The company gets many ideas for new fleet additions from visiting the Executive Hire Show. “It is the industry highlight of our year,” said Darrel Leadley. “As well as seeing the latest new products in one place, you can talk to other hirers, catch up on industry gossip and do business. The Show is also a good opportunity to think about the business away from the day-to-day hire desk activities.”
Tim Garland expects the company to continue its development. “There are a lot of new construction projects starting, and a recent report suggested that the area in and around York requires 1,500 new homes each year over the next decade. There is even talk of building an entire new village to help meet this demand. The University of York is creating a new campus with halls of residence and a sports complex, while local businesses, like food producers and factories, continue to expand or re-develop. To be honest, we probably haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”
“We aim to offer everything that people might require.”
“We now operate two 26-tonne beaver tail trucks, which enable us to deliver up to four larger machines on one journey. We also have a 7.5-tonne vehicle and three pick-ups, and we might buy an articulated lorry next year. Having this breadth of delivery options makes it easier to choose the most cost-effective transport solution. Certainly, our on-going expansion brings more challenges, but one of our mottoes is ‘create a problem, then solve it’,” said Tim Garland.
The company has also established a small contracting operation. “We launched this in 2014 and it has proved very popular. It started from a conversation with a customer who had a contract to build a new clubhouse and car park for a rugby club in Harrogate. They wanted someone reliable to prepare the site and install drainage, and we knew we had the machinery to do it. We now employ three skilled operators. However, we are careful not to undertake any work that could be seen as competing against our
21 •
www.elvingtonplanthire.co.uk
Fence panels are supplied to a growing event hire customer base.
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