CHASE
Mike Hodgson has been in the hire business for 25 years. From humble
beginnings to the present day, business is thriving,
while his media-savvy son may yet transform the company.
W
hat a pleasure it is to travel on one of the wettest and most horrible days of
the year and to find such an excellent hire company at the end of it. Hodgson Tool Hire narrowly missed out on a Passionate Hirer Award in 2020, but it’s easy to see why the company made the shortlist in the first place – a well-located and tidy premises, a broad range of equipment in sparkling condition, distinctive branding, and a palpably upbeat working environment – you only need to check the company’s social feeds for evidence of that.
It all begins at the top, of course. Owner Mike Hodgson has celebrated a double anniversary recently, racking up his half century and with 25 years in the plant & tool hire trade. As with many independent businesses, Hodgson Tool Hire’s beginnings were somewhat modest. The man himself picks up the story:
“We started out in the local village, Burscough, on the first of January 1997. I was actually working for a hire company at the time. The original plan was to form a paint business with a chap I’d met on holiday
The Hodgson Tool Hire team, owner Mike larking around at the back and son Callum second right.
in Spain, but when I got back the hire shop owner told me that he’d had enough. I thought about it, then decided to make him an offer, and he accepted.
“The banks were very frugal back then, so I also took a part time job on a farm, just to make ends meet. I’d work there from 4.30 to 7.30am, and I’d open the shop from 8.00 to 5.00pm, then I was back at the farm from 5.30 to 8.00pm. I did that for around 12 months, then the hire business started picking up.”
Well, everybody has to start somewhere. What sort of equipment were you offering to begin with?
“Some items were left behind by the previous owner, but it wasn’t very much – the first item I actually bought was a McCulloch strimmer from B&Q! People in the village would ask for things like carpet cleaners, so we started building the fleet and the business from there.”
Apart from being local, what sort of customers did you have back then? “Some local builders, but most of our customers were just doing DIY projects. In fact, most of our business is still DIY – people are definitely having more of a ‘go’ since lockdown. But a large part of this is down to our huge focus on customer experience and satisfaction. We try to make everyone feel relaxed and at home, in what can be a daunting environment.”
Mike Hodgson favours the major brands.
The business is 25 years old now, what have been the milestones for you along the way?
“Diggers,” says Mike, in a heartbeat. “After four or five years in, I bought a JCB 801 – whenever it broke down we’d fix it after work. Then we needed something to move it around, so we bought a Hilux van and we started offering a delivery service. The shop in Burscough wasn’t really big enough for the amount of business we were getting, so we acquired the land here and moved into this purpose-built unit in 2006. It was a bit of a risk, as we were at the end of a new trading estate, but it has grown around us.”
The current building is rather larger than the shop on the high street. Just how big is it?
“This building is on 3000sqft. We also bought a three quarter of an acre site next door in 2019. I only really wanted a sliver of land for the staff to park their cars, but I ended up buying the entire thing. We have 12 in the team now. A businesses cannot operate without the skills and fantastic effort of the company staff. Our turnover is very low - our longest-serving members are 23 years, 15 years and ten years, while our shortest serving member of staff has been here three years.”
The new unit and a bit of land aren’t your only acquisitions, though?
“We were doing really well here, but we got wind of the fact that Contact Tool Hire in nearby Ainsdale was up for sale. The owner only wanted to sell the name and the equipment separately, but our offer was accepted. We satellite the Ainsdale depot from here, and that business is doing really well now.”
THE
78 Executive Hire News - January/February 2023
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