PROFILE G.A. PLANT AND TOOL HIRE
The GreenMech chipper is a step up from the domestic model Angus previously owned, and he's able to maintain the machine and sharpen the blades himself.
High Flyer
Independent hirers often have better stories to tell. For G.A. Plant and Tool Hire, theirs involves a Libyan despot, a hard rock hero and lightweight aircraft. We just had to find out more…
There are many routes into the hire industry, although not all as exciting as the one taken by Angus Lacy-Hulbert, the owner of G.A. Plant and Tool Hire in Swindon, who once ran his own flying school – Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden was a former pupil, I'm told. Perhaps there is a touch of rock n’ roll about Angus too, and his varied background certainly hints at a restless spirit. He didn’t begin in the sector, and he may yet find a new challenge, but his neat depot looks like an eminently fine place to be in the meantime. So how does this fully trained microlight pilot land himself in hire?
“It all started with an apprenticeship in agricultural engineering at Massey Ferguson, then I did an HND in mechanical engineering. I went overseas straight out of college, to do training and service and warranty work for Case Construction Equipment in the countries of the former Soviet Union – put a ‘stan’ on it, and I’ve probably been there,” Angus begins. “I also worked in Libya, at a factory joint-owned by Colonel Gaddafi...
them on. People began asking if I’d hire them instead, and it kind of grew from there – just me and a mate hiring stuff out of his garage. Then we decided to try doing it properly.”
“He ran for the hills after six months, but I stuck it out – literally locking the front door every time I went out on a delivery, and generally running around trying to get this thing off the ground. To be fair we’re doing that pretty successfully, and we’re in year five now.”
“if I was my younger self with the chance
to do it all over again, I wouldn’t – not on your nelly!”
I enjoyed the wild expat lifestyle, but after a few years I felt that I needed to settle down, so back to the UK I came. As a youngster I’d always had an interest in flying, and this had grown to include microlight aircraft. A friend who was an instructor suggested that I join him in a business venture, so that’s what we did. It got as far as running two schools with seven aircraft. I’d also started trading second-hand machinery as a sideline, doing them up and selling
That’s a varied and interesting background indeed. With all that Angus has experienced, what aspects of previous employments has he translated to this current role?
“Customer service,” he answers in a heartbeat. “It’s not all about price, but we compete against larger hire companies by offering the sorts of services they can’t. I find that reliability
and honesty work, so our philosophy is always to under-promise and over-deliver.
“I came into this role as an end-user, so I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of service in hire shops. As a customer I always felt I was being ripped off, so we’re always very transparent in what we do. We always tell our customers about prices including VAT and delivery charges. We’re particularly upfront with domestic customers, who appreciate our approach and come back to us because of that.”
Three views of the G.A. Plant premises. Angus is a big fan of Kubota, to the extent that all his machines have names. It helps to keep track of them, apparently. 28
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