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CITY SLICKERS


Alide Hire Services has always been a friend to EHN. A recent relocation sees the company in well-appointed new premises in downtown Bristol. Andy went to find out more.


A


lide MD Brett Thompson splits his time between the company’s three depots,


including its new outlet a short walk from Bristol city centre. My day begins on a cold and windy hillside at its Keynsham outpost, however. Once indoors, with a warm drink to ward off the chill, a planned interview goes awry when COVID inevitably creeps into the conversation. Businesses have been affected in different ways, but how did Alide respond?


“Maybe we didn’t understand the rules correctly at the start, but we decided to close all depots for a whole month,” Brett explains. “The other directors and I were working throughout, but we opened back up once we’d started to see there was business out there. We had a couple of COVID cases in the company, but they isolated straight away. We wanted to be part of the solution rather than the problem, so we carried out thorough risk assessments and installed safety measures for all our staff.


“By early June business was good enough


to reopen all depots, although our return was also informed by analysis. We invest in technologies to provide better information, and we rely on information such as turnover, the number of daily contracts, driver activity


Pause for thought


Alide management comprises Director Shaun Thompson, eldest son Brett, middle brother Felix who is finance director, and


Business is brisk at the new Alide depot in central Bristol


logs and communications data. We use Syrinx, but also Akixi call-centre software, which provides statistics about calls, waiting times, call back ratios and abandons – we took 500 calls on day one!”


Sales Director James Mulrooney, who joined the company in September 2020. A recent reshuffle saw the retirement of former Director Gareth Hayward, with his shareholding redistributed accordingly. Now wholly owned by the Thompsons, the family structure has also led to this more analytical approach to the business, as Brett details:


“This is what makes us a bit different,” he says. “My father comes from an accounting background and he has an analytical mind- set. He has certainly been an influence, and we like to approach business decisions in the same methodical way - when we buy, we buy big and we buy well.


“Felix is probably the main reason why we are so modern in our approach. He drives


‘‘ Alide MD Brett Thompson at the hire desk of the new depot. The company has many more customers than the sign suggests, however. 14 Executive Hire News - May 2021 We don’t make our


depots compete, and we won’t penalise one if it is helping to support another


’’


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