Hire and Rental News - August 2018

INDUSTRY in FOCUS 18 HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS • AUGUST 2018 that’s the building and construction industry – so not surprisingly the events I attend tend to be male dominated. As such I’m really pleased the HRIA has set up a ‘Women in Hire’ forum and I hope it leads to more women feeling confident in our industry. I think we should all look at ensuring we have women in the field and on the Board of Directors. Q: Does the ‘glass ceiling’ exist for women in the hire industry? When people ask me who Aim Hire’s closest competitor is I love to point out our closest competitor is run by a woman (shout out to Helen Post at Eagle Hire). I also visited one of the biggest toilet hire companies in LA last year, Andy Gump, which is managed by – you guessed it – a woman, Nancy Gump. Q: If so, does this affect your effectiveness in your role? There are a lot of family owned hire business out there. Indeed this is how many of the big hire companies started. And for women this is often how they find themselves in the hire industry. I suspect there are a lot of wives out there running the show behind the scenes while the men are out the front. Being a woman doesn’t affect my role or my effectiveness. I’d like to see more of us in the industry. Q: What would you like to see happen for all working roles in the hire industry? I definitely think there needs to be more women in hire and more women at the grass roots of the hire business. I’d like to see more female truck drivers, more women in the workshops and more women in logistics. We have a couple of female service technicians and a female in logistics who used to work as a truck driver in the Perth mines and we have several females in operations. Hire is a great industry because for those with drive and ambition getting to know the business from the ground up can This year two new categories were added to the Awards list: Best Sustainability & CSR Initiative and Best Recruitment Innovation Campaign. This year the Chairman’s Award was presented to Sat Dhaiwal, Chief Executive Officer of UK equipment rental company A-Plant. Mr Dhaiwal received the award for an inspirational career; he joined A-Plant as a depot manager at 23 and rose through the ranks to become Chief Executive in 2002 and one of the most influential people in the hire industry. HAE EHA Managing Director Graham Arundell said: “There is so much innovation in our industry it is wonderful to get the chance to recognise and share it. The competition this year was so fierce, we felt compelled to give out more ‘Highly Commended’ awards than before; the calibre of entries was very impressive.” The 2018 Winners of Hire Awards of Excellence are: HAE EHA Chairman’s Award – Sat Dhaiwal; Catalogue of the Year – Hirebase; HAE EHA awards celebrates European hire industry excellence The winners of the Hire Association Europe and Event Hire Association (HAE EHA) 2018 Hire Awards of Excellence were announced in late April. Website of the Year – Allens Catering Equipment Hire; Best Use of New Media – CanTrack Global; Best Sustainability and CSR – Chiltern Hire Centres; Construction Industry Product of the Year – Addex Group for Allsaw AS170; Events Industry Product of the Year – G-Smatt Europe’s G-Wall for temporary structures; Supplier of the Year – Hilti GB; Plant, Tool & Equipment Hire Company of the Year (Turnover up to £10m) – Smith’s Hire; Plant, Tool & Equipment Hire Company of the Year (Turnover over £10m) – A-Plant; Event Equipment Hire Company of the Year – LIVE; SafeHire Company of the Year – Didcot Hire; Best Recruitment Innovation – CanTrack Global; Apprentice of the Year – Bonnie Stanton, CW Plant Hire; Workshop Manager of the Year – Matt Stonall, AFI; Hire Manager of the Year – Jessica Bowen, VP plc Hire Station; and Hire Achiever of the Year – Jessica Bowen, VP plc Hire Station. Visit: www.hae.org.uk lead to supervisory roles and roles in management as the company grows, more branches are opened and positions become available. Q: Are there unique challenges for women working in temporary site services? and what are they? Some of the roles in TSS (Temporary Site Services) are physically demanding but as long as you are physically fit and strong enough there is no reason a woman would be overlooked. It’s more about attracting women to the roles and to the industry as a whole. Q: How do you address those issues? That’s a good question and I think it’s probably best addressed by leading through example. Employing women in non-traditional roles, offering training, networking with other women in hire and in business, and pushing for diversity in the workplace. Hire is a great industry for women to be involved in. The winners of the Hire Association Europe and Event Hire Association (HAE EHA) 2018 Hire Awards of Excellence Proving her dad's boots fit just fine Elise Kelsey... continued from p17