21 Mar 2018
Newstalk’s Bobby Kerr invited Height for Hire’s Operations Director Frances Mc Ardle to discuss the plant hire industry on his show Down to Business broadcast on St Patrick’s Day.
Celebrating 40 years in business this year, with locations growing in the last year to 30 across Ireland, the UK, Hungary and Slovakia, Frances said the business had come a long way since it was started by her father Harry McArdle back in 1978 with just one machine. Harry still plays an active role in the business along with other family members.
The secret to the business’ success is knowing the value of being in the right place at the right time with the right product for its customers. Frances told Bobby that the key to the rental business is all about uptime, and Height for Hire does this by keeping a fresh fleet, maintained in good condition, and making it available where the customer wants it.
She also discussed how the company only use machines from its own fleet, because Height for Hire has full digital records of all its machines which provides a full plant history. It is this system which allows Height for Hire to provide a 24-hour 7-days a week Technical Support helpline.
Unusually, for a plant hire company, Height for Hire has also invested heavily in its IT department which has allowed the company to develop sophisticated internal systems for maintaining plant.
When asked about the importance of the Construction sector to the business, Frances said that while it remains a vital sector for its customer base, the aftershocks of the construction crash prompted Height for Hire to diversify into other sectors such as windfarm and film work, as well as setting up a division of products specifically for home owners, domestic users, small businesses and farmers. It is also what prompted the company to spread its risk geographically.
Frances finished the interview by pointing out that the health and safety regulations for lifting people are very rigorous and getting all its customers home safe when working at height, is the engine that drives the business forward.