Liam McElhone, Hire Manager Luke Ocheduszko and Jason Steeples keep shop. ALL MOD CONS Business is good at Advance Tool Hire & Sales, in Nottingham. With nearly
40 years in the business and other interests on the go, how do the directors maintain their enthusiasm and what are their future plans?
A
dvance Tool Hire enjoys a privileged position, its depot on the edge of a
small industrial estate on a busy main road. In an attempt to lure passersby, its public- facing outer walls are festooned with full colour images of some of its most popular hire items – a tactic that seems to be paying off, judging from the queue your author witnessed upon arrival. Much of this, it seems, is the result of the prime location, but also due to a couple of lucrative new contracts.
The business was established in 1997 by Directors Liam McEhone and Jason Steeples, who now form a tight team with Hire Manager Luke Ocheduszko. As we
meet in early August 2023, business is booming and the company is on track to meet a significant financial milestone. There’s a palpable air of wellbeing, with Luke looking after the daily running of the shop, leaving the directors better able to pursue other interests, such as business responsibilities and time allow.
In view of all of that, some might be tempted to rest on their laurels and let others do the heavy lifting. I had questions, then, about motivation and further movements. First, I was interested to learn more about the size and shape of current trading.
“Maybe 70% of our hire business comes from a specialist company that looks after our social media marketing and ranking” explains Liam. “This is complete turnaround for us. When we first started, we were turning over £1.5 million – £1.4 million of it in sales. We’re hoping to do just under £2 million this year. 85 to 90% of it will be in hire.”
Just a few of Advance’s substantial digger fleet.
On that, the company does especially well with micro machinery, boasting one of the
largest fleets of such equipment in Nottinghamshire. “We’ve got around 50 diggers, from micros up to three tonnes, and they’re out all of the time – mainly throughout the Nottingham, Derby and Mansfield areas,” adds Liam. “We tend to buy the big brands, such as Bobcat, Belle, JCB, Wacker Neuson.”
The diminutive nature of the fleet suggests a certain type of customer. Who are they, in the main?
“A lot of our hires are local builders and cash and credit customers looking after small domestic projects. However, we have just won two major clients, with Nottingham Trent University and a three-year contract for Nottingham County Council,” says Liam.
“My background is in joinery and shopfitting, dealing with a lot of professionals in that sector. We have retained many of them as customers. One of them is on the same estate and there’s a builder’s merchant (Jayplas) in the same block.”
Retail was hit very hard during lockdown,
42 Executive Hire News - September 2023
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