Editorial Team
Editor
Steve Ducker
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1892 786209
Managing Editor
Murray Pollok
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1505 850043
Staff Writers
LindseyAnderson,
AlexDahm,
LindsayGale,
SandyGuthrie,
LauraHatton,
CristiánPeters,
D.Ann Shiffler,
EuanYoudale
Editorial Director
Paul Marsden
Production Team
Production and
Circulation Director
Saara Rootes
e-mail:
ProductionManager
Ross Dickson
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1892 786245
DesignManager
Jeff Gilbert
Events Designer Manager
Gary Brinklow
Designer
Grace Pullinger
Production Assistant
Louise Kingsnorth
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1892 786246
Sales Team
Advertisement Manager
Lynn Collett
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1892 7862219
Fax: +44 (0)1892 786258
Products & Services
Directory Sales
Paul Watson
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1892 786204
Fax: +44 (0)1892 786258
Finance Team
Financial Controller
Paul Baker
Tel: +44 (0)1892 784088
Financial Assistant
GillianMartin
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1892 786248
Credit Control
Josephine Day
e-mail:
Tel: +44 (0)1892 786250
Circulation Team
CirculationManager
Helen Knight
BPA FilingManager
Hayley Gent
Tel: +44 (0) 1892 786233
Office Manager
Clare Grant
Business Development Director
PeterWatkinson
Publisher
James King
commen
t
April-May 2015
Volume 15 Issue 3
W
elcome to the April-May issue, my first as editor since Helen Wright started
her maternity leave in March. Helen is now the proud mother of baby Zoe and
everyone at
IRN
sends our best wishes to themboth.
Withmy firstweeks in the jobcoincidingwith the2014 full year results “season”, itwaswith
special interest that I readour contributor KevinAppleton’s column for this issue.
Without giving toomuchawaybeforeyouvisit himonpage 11, Kevinalso spent a lot of time
crunching the numbers from companies big and small.
His conclusionwas that we have a “two-speed rental” industry. Themain characteristic of
which is companies on one side of the divide posting huge profit growth, against those on
the otherwho struggle topost any sort of growth at all.
At first glance this isunremarkable. The lawof theocean, where thebig fisheat the smaller
ones and the smaller ones console themselveswith theminnows, has applied for as long as
anyone can remember in almost every industry you canname.
Evolutionhas always been there. Only the pace of change differs.
For instance, the average UK high street has changedmore in the past decade than it did
in the preceding century.
Elsewhere, retailers spent yearsdevelopingmammothout of townhypermarkets to service
an increasingly car focused customer base. Now they have to cater for the online shopping
market, a 21st century equivalent of sending a delivery boy out on a bike.
Evolution may be inevitable, but that’s not to say that the consequences of it are always
uniformly predictable.
One comment of Kevin’s that I found particularly intriguing was the idea that even when
companies have grown nationally in countries with strong regional markets, they cannot
always capitalise on their economic ‘superiority’ against smaller competitorswith specialist
local knowledge honed from years of serving the customer base on their doorstep.
Sowhile the rental industrymay have its bigplayers, there’s always room for the little guy
if he knowswhat he’s good at, understands hismarket anddoesn’t overreachhimself.
Which is not to say therewill never be casualties. Oceanpopulations do tend tobe finite.
But with economic fluctuations in some parts of theworld aswild and unexpected as they
have ever been, and the consequent impact of them on the truly international operator’s
bottom line, the clued-up little guy could continue growing in the slipstream of the big fish
for some years yet.
To findoutwhat Europe’s rental companieshavebeen telling
IRN
about business in thepast
three months, please go to our RentalTracker survey, jointly organised with the European
Rental Association, which starts onpage 19.
Steve Ducker
Correspondenceor comments shouldbe sent to:
TheEditor,
IRN
, Southfields, SouthviewRoad, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN56TP, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1892 784088
Fax: +44 (0)1892 786257
e-mail:
The paper in this magazine originates from timber that is sourced from sustainable forests, managed
to strict environmental, social, and economic standards. Themanufacturingmill has both FSC& PEFC
certification, and also ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditation.
KHL’s
rental
portfolio
information-store
Equalopportunities
fficial magazine of the E
O
RA
NEWS
Volume 15 Issue 3 April-May 2015
INTERNATIONAL
A KHL Group Publication
rental
INSIDE: EUROPEAN RENTAL AWARDS; PLANTWORX PREVIEW; TELEMATICS
Loxam
branchesout
p15
Intermat reviewed
P12
RentalTracker
P19
Generators
P41
Japan
p48
3
EDITORIAL
IRNAPRIL-MAY 2015
NEWS
R
Ranking theworld’s largest
rentalcompanies
gEurope’s
rentalcompa i
A KHL Group Publication
IRN100: 2004-2008
NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
rent
l
IRN
0
E
Ra
n
k
in
r
g
e
s
t
A KHL SPECIAL REPORT
10 YEARS OF RENTAL MANAGEMENT ADVICE FROM
INTERNATIONAL RENTAL NEWS
MAGAZINE
MANAGING
RENTAL
A KHL SPECIAL REPORT
RENTAL MANAGERS AND SUPPLIERS
TALK EQUIPMENT RENTAL
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012 – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
INTERVIEWS
ON RENTAL
nes
5
Ranking theworld’s largest
rentalcompanies
A KHL Group Publication
IRN100: 2010-2014
NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
rent
l
IRN
100
2010-2014
IRN100
