MARKET REPORT GARDEN CARE continued


particularly the larger items like ride-on garden tractors which we offer in our extensive showroom upstairs,” said Neal Sherrington, who joined the business in 2015 initially to oversee the hire activity and is now Company Strategy Manager, helping to co-ordinate the overall development of the business. “The staircase, hire desk, equipment plinths and other items were actually made in our on-site joinery.” The hire operation is now run by Hire Manager Jason Howell, who has been with the company six years. The facility includes a bright retail area downstairs, and there are television screens displaying product videos and promotional offers, with signage in corporate colours denoting different product areas.


The hire fleet has steadily broadened, now including mini excavators of up to 3 tonnes (mainly Kubota machines sourced from local dealer Chepstow Construction Equipment) and dumpers up to 2.5-tonnes. The larger machines have been added to meet customer demand. The company is also evaluating a Niftylift HR12 rough terrain access platform that can be driven from the operating basket.


Specialist garden care focus


Garden machinery in the upstairs showroom.


Gardening and grounds care equipment is a


specialist area, together with backup servicing and repairs which helps iron out seasonal peaks and troughs. “Much of the landscape in and around the Forest of Dean is undulating and many sites can only be accessed by very compact equipment,” said Neal Sherrington. “Some customers have properties with steeply sloping lawns that have to be cut with specialist mowers. Others have large paddocks that are too big for conventional machines but are not cut frequently enough to warrant the purchase of a ride-on mower. We can hire a machine like a Grillo heavy-duty unit which we recently added to the fleet.


“We also offer Atco lawn tractors with side discharge for users like country hotels, farmers and leisure sites where grassed areas need to be maintained but collection of clippings is not required. Many landscape contractors and forestry workers come to us for virtually all their equipment needs, ranging from Makita, Husqvarna and Echo brush cutters, chain saws and pole pruners, to Timberwolf chippers and compact plant.”


21


Just one area of the extensive builders’ merchant facility.


A particularly important aspect of the group’s operation is its diverse transport fleet, ranging from a Ford Fiesta van for quick delivery of small items, to HGVs with a 15-tonne carrying capacity, and fitted with cranes and block grabs - principally for supplying heavy building materials. The fleet also includes compact 7.5-tonne Isuzu trucks with tipping bodies and mini cranes, plus, specifically for hire deliveries, a 7.5-tonne Isuzu Beavertail and 3.5-tonne Trailer combination. “This allows a digger and dumper to be delivered on one load,” said Jake Hale. “This truck even has a crane to facilitate the safe and easy loading and unloading of non-wheeled plant.


Challenging operations


“As many sites are in areas with confined access, the cranes can facilitate challenging operations. One of our 26-tonne MAN trucks with a particularly long-reach crane was once used to literally pick up a mini excavator that a householder had hired from us: he had used it during a construction job without realising that he had effectively walled in the machine with no way of driving it out!


“I believe we can grow the hire activity further simply through maintaining good availability through expansion of our current fleet. Also, having the operation on-site means that tradesmen and members of the public visiting other parts of our business will see the hire depot and discuss what they might need for a gardening or landscaping project, by hiring or buying what they need from the one source. We basically start a conversation with the customer and see where it leads.”


• www.haleshire.co.uk


The delivery fleet includes Isuzu Beavertail vehicles.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52