CP HIRE: EVERYTHING, EVE RYWHERE, WHEN YOU NEED IT

Plant and equipment hire is an integral element of most construction, groundworks and infrastructure projects and, with a massive stock (for example, more than 300 excavators), seven depots and 110 staff around Northern Ireland, it is little wonder that CP Hire’s services are in demand. The company, founded by Norman Hutchinson in 1971 has thrived and expanded throughout its 52-year history and, now into its sixth decade, is established as a market leader and trusted partner to some of Northern Ireland’s biggest contractors. The company is still owned by the Hutchinson family, with Norman’s sons, Andrew and David running the business. Plant and Civil Engineer spoke to Managing Director,

From One To Seven Cp Hire Depots Across Northern Ireland

“My late father, Norman, who died in 2016, was a true entrepreneur with a strong work ethic and a great team builder as his company expanded from its humble beginnings to the province-wide business it is today,” says Andrew. “His Articlave [Castlerock] shed quickly evolved into CP Hire’s headquarters on the Bushmills Road in Coleraine and depots were opened as the company grew on the strength of its plant range and its reputation.”

The Belfast depot, in Duncrue Street, was the first of the depots to open, followed by the Ballymena depot, which was originally located on Larne Road. Recently, the Ballymena hire shop moved to Woodside Industrial estate, with the older site becoming a storage unit. With a firm foothold in Antrim and Belfast, expansion continued with the Dungannon shop at Tamnamore, just off the M1 and opening access to Counties Armagh, Tyrone and west to Fermanagh. The next three CP Hire depots, in Campsie, Banbridge and then Magherafelt brought CP Hire’s portfolio to seven locations and made the company easily accessible throughout Northern Ireland.

Buildings For Builders And Access For All

Whilst CP Hire’s huge fleet of plant and vehicles and many thousands of tools for hire are in constant demand, in recent times

CP Hire has seen a sharp growth in two areas: site accommodation and access hire.

“The demand for access equipment hire has been growing steadily, driven by the Work at Height Regulations, more stringent Health & Safety and risk assessment requirements and, in general, more focus on worker safety,” says Andrew. “Even the smallest of jobs to be undertaken at height requires a cherry picker at least and that increasing awareness and need has driven access hire sales.

“We have all the equipment in stock, whatever the size of the job and with our seven depots we are well placed to service demand with same-day delivery and often delivering equipment to site within two hours. Of course, that applies to all our plant and equipment, not just access!

“Given the growth in demand, several years ago we brought in Andy Owens as our Access Manager, as he has specialist knowledge in this area.”

“We work with all the main contractors and we see strong demand for site accommodation. We would typically provide customers with anything from two to 15 units, comprising secure office and storage space and those buildings could be on-site for up to five years, depending on the job,” says Andrew.

“Our service includes delivery, on-site setup, full maintenance throughout the hire period and dismantling and taking away at the end of the project. We have a good reputation for providing fresh, well-maintained and smart-looking site accommodation.”

CP HIRE’S 3RS: RAPID, RELIABLE, RELATIONSHIPS

For Andrew Hutchinson, the secret behind the success of CP Hire is simple: rapid response or reaction hire, reliability and longterm, strong relationships with customers.

“Having seven depots gives us a major advantage in terms of how quickly we can deliver and how fast we can respond to customers’ needs,” says Andrew. “All types of hitches and emergencies can crop up on a construction site and that’s when your customer needs a rapid reaction. It could be something as simple as a burst water pipe but, no matter what the circumstances downtime on site costs money. Our provincewide coverage means that, wherever a customer is and whatever is needed, we get it to the site in superfast time.”

Like reaction hire emergency service, maintenance is paramount to site efficiency and, in the case of a breakdown or mechanical issue, the CP Hire maintenance crew will be there within the hour.

Carrying a huge stock of plant and equipment which is always maintained in good order and regularly refreshed also makes CP Hire the reliable choice for hire needs. That also includes having the right fleet to deliver to the site and, to that end, CP Hire has just taken delivery of two new Volvo cheese wedge beavertails, supplied by Dennison Commercials. “These 32-tonne trucks are versatile and capable and will be an asset in servicing demand for heavy plant and site accommodation,” comments Andrew. Andrew Hutchinson knows that getting the product range, and service delivery right build the company’s trust score and reputation for reliability. However, for him, there is one more factor, perhaps the most important of all.

“People do business with people and it is the relationships that have evolved between us and our customers that matter most to success,” says Andrew.

“We’ve been in business for 52 years, so we and our customers know each other very well – we’ve got great relationships, which matter to us, and that is a major contributor to our success.” www.cphire.com