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EXECUTIVE REPORT


Richard Meeks, left, and Craig Wheldale at the new and re-branded Leeds depot.


Key to expansion


Alan Guthrie visits the new Leeds depot of Frank Key Tool Hire, which continues to develop its operation.


Nottingham-based Frank Key Tool Hire has re-located its Leeds depot as part of a programme of expansion, and it has carefully re-branded its operation following its acquisition in 2015 of Banson Tool Hire, which had ten depots throughout Yorkshire and Leeds.


This addition, together with the earlier purchase of Sinbad Tool Hire which had two depots in Nottingham, gave Frank Key a total of four outlets in that city plus the Banson locations in Batley, Bradford, the Halifax head office, Huddersfield, Keighley, Leeds, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham and Wakefield. These complement Frank Key’s builder’s merchant activity, and the Banner deal also meant it acquired the Charles Watson (Ironmongers) hardware supply business, which has a presence in both Halifax and Leeds.


“Our new Leeds site is much larger and more visible to passers-by,” Group Hire Director Richard Meeks told EHN. “It was also one of the first depots to have the new branding that we have rolled out this spring at all our hire depots.” Previously, the Banson identity had been retained completely to avoid disrupting or confusing its long- established customer base. Now they carry Frank Key signage with an eye-catching gold Banson logo at the right hand side. A similar strategy was successfully adopted when the Sinbad depots were acquired.


Successful hire management culture


As well as considerably expanding the hire network, purchasing Banson also enabled Frank Key to absorb a successful tool hire management culture. Previously, half the hire customers came


from the builder’s merchant activity, and now aspects of the Banson approach are helping to broaden the customer base throughout the hire network, in areas such as pricing structures and other operational areas. As Richard Meeks pointed out, “We have retained Halifax as the tool hire head office and this demonstrates that it does not play second fiddle to our merchant activity.”


The tool hire operation now employs 90 people, including Group Hire Manager Craig Wheldale, who has 28 years’ industry experience with Banson and now Frank Key. “We are constantly re-appraising our fleet. Ten years ago there was strong demand for angle grinders and chuck drills; now customers want other equipment that will save them time and labour costs, and provide more efficient working.


“We have invested in items like Mace Bumpa and Shifta hoists, Addex air purifiers, DART diamond blades and drill bits, and Imex surveying and distance measurement instruments. To meet on-going demand we have been buying more Stephill generators, Bobcat mini excavators, Thwaites dumpers and Genie material lifts. You have to invest continually to meet customer needs and it keeps the fleet fresh. We can source larger or specialist items through a network of re-hire partners that we have established, so that people can obtain everything they need from a single source.”


The business prides itself on a commitment to service. “We are not principally concerned with having the cheapest rates or getting involved in a dogfight race to the bottom on pricing. We want to be known for providing good products at a sensible rate, and to ensure that we offer reliable and sustainable levels of service,” said Richard Meeks. “We will deliver items to the customer’s site when we say we will, they will work as they should, and we will collect them promptly. If there is any issue, we will repair or replace the equipment the same day. Local tradesmen throughout our Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire region are currently busy, and by offering the right equipment we are gaining more business.”


The hire operation is set to expand further, with the opening of a fifteenth depot this summer in Sheffield, within an existing Frank Key builder’s merchant outlet.


• The new facility includes an extensive retail display. 21 www.frank-key.co.uk/hire


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