EXECUTIVE REPORT
Eagle’s flying start
A serious fire last summer has not affected Glasgow-based Eagle Plant Hire’s progress. In fact, it has just opened its second depot in Edinburgh. Alan Guthrie paid a visit.
As befits the company’s name, Eagle Plant Hire Ltd’s new depot in the Scottish capital has got off to a flying start with its team relishing the challenge of keeping pace with demand. When EHN visited the facility two weeks after its official opening on 1 November, the operation had just received a substantial consignment of additional Youngman Boss aluminium towers to its fleet, and five more X-Eco lighting towers from Trime UK were due for delivery that afternoon.
“It is the first time we have offered mobile lighting towers,” said MD Colin Inglis. “We bought ten to test the water, added five more within a week, and when they were quickly all out on hire we had to order the latest five for a long-term contract. The market generally is really busy.”
The Edinburgh depot is on a modern trading estate conveniently situated about four miles south west of the busy city centre. The building occupies 4,000ft2
with the possibility of adding
a mezzanine floor, and it has recently been refurbished. There is also potential to extend the yard at the rear and perhaps to add an extra building.
“The decision to open in Edinburgh was an easy one because many of our customers served by the Glasgow depot were already working there and wanted to hire from us. We are principally targeting small to medium- sized businesses with tools and equipment, with compact plant being supplied initially from Glasgow’s fleet, but when we expand the yard we will be able to keep larger machines here, too.”
Takeuchi TB216s to meet a specific customer request, and it says this demonstrates its flexibility in being able to offer a range of options. The fleet also includes an extensive selection of concreting equipment.
This expansion is all the more remarkable since the Glasgow headquarters suffered a serious fire on 13 May. “The offices were completely destroyed and the roof collapsed,” said Colin. “We lost all our paperwork and IT hardware, but thankfully everything was backed up in our Point of Rental Software system. If the fire had spread to the hire shop and workshops, it would have been devastating. The incident happened on a Sunday and by Tuesday we had a new temporary phone line in place and were working from a portable building.
Eagle has landed: from left, Colin Inglis, John Cummings, Douglas Smeaton and Trevor Moore.
“The staff were phenomenal. Job descriptions went out of the window and we all did whatever was necessary. Customers also understood and supported us. We aim to re-open the offices in March and, if anything, the experience has made us stronger.” Currently 20 people are based at the Glasgow location with six in Edinburgh, although more will be recruited in the coming months to cope with anticipated demand.
The new Edinburgh depot has scope for future expansion.
As we reported in our November/December issue, the company’s expansion has been helped by an SME Cashflow finance package from Clydesdale Bank. Something else that has accelerated
Eagle Plant Hire has flourished over the past 12 months with year-on- year growth of an estimated 65% before Edinburgh was opened. The business has been expanding its fleet, which now includes 97 mini excavators from micro machines up to 8-tonne models. These are primarily Kubota machines but the company recently added two
47
this growth has been the strengthening of the Eagle Plant Hire management team. Last year saw the appointment of John Cummings as Commercial Director. He was previously MD of Speedy in Scotland and he has subsequently been joined by two former Speedy colleagues, namely Douglas Smeaton and Iain MacDonald as Sales Directors. John Cummings’s son, Leigh, has also been appointed as Operations Director, having previously also been with Speedy in Scotland.
MOVING FORWARD WITH CONFIDENCE
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