Hire and Rental News - August 2015

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15 HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS • AUGUST 2015
INDUSTRY in FOCUS
cheaper than it could ever be supplied by
a hire yard and as a result the hire market
equipment line-up is changing in line
with this trend. So increased technology
equipment and innovation is a perfect fit
for the hire market.
Q: What is happening in the
hire market? Trends? Customer
movements/needs changing?
Customers and the speed of the world are
changing dramatically. Think about the
speed of transactions today and the quality
of machines available. The hire market is
being consolidated but there are still new,
fresh players raising the bar continually.
I think hire will be an increasing market
mainly because today people want to own
less and share more.
Think about the proliferation of websites
today where people are offering do-it-
yourself hire options or do-it-yourself
accommodation.
Collaboration is increasing and technology
is allowing more small business
opportunities. But we as consumers
(and especially as an industry) still need
accountability and quality products so
I see it will be very hard for these more
personal marketers to threaten the hire
industry. They will offer a
challenge for sure, but we just
need to work smarter and
better to overcome them.
Q: What are the
profitability factors
the industry should be
monitoring?
Profitability is very important
for improvement and growth;
to enhance the industry
and to pay for times when
business is not so profitable.
Utilisation of products makes a big
difference so buying quality products
that serve the customer well and last the
distance are also important.
Q: What’s been the biggest
innovation in the industry?
Apart from the Powered Hand Truck? The
HRIA Hire Show always has a lot of great
and innovative new products every year
and I enjoy seeing and reviewing those.
But technically speaking, I think the hire
industry is quite technologically behind
other markets in serving customers and
in its interface with customers. There is
definitely an opportunity for the industry
to grow into there. For eg: let’s look at how
other markets operate
and how customers
receive their goods.
Much of it is online today,
yet the hire industry is
lagging in this area. I
appreciate this will be
tough to accommodate
and achieve because
there are so many
different facets of hire
across different markets,
products and equipment
ranges. It will be difficult
to find one solution to fit all needs.
Q: What would you like to see
happen for the hire industry?
We have great events in the hire industry
and as a member of the HRIA I’d like to see
that continue. I want to see the industry
grow and move into more areas. I’d love
to see the industry step up technologically
to meet customer needs. Let’s face it:
everyone has a Smartphone and can
access online information and book things
online immediately these days. We need to
address this increasingly urgent need as
an industry.
Rory Kennard - Makinex
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