Ardent Hire Solutions is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of telehandlers, excavators, dumpers, rollers, roto-telehandlers, and electric-powered access to the equipment rental market. Established through the merger of Fork Rent and One Call Hire in 2015, the company today trades from 10 depots nationwide and invests continuously in both fleet and service enhancement.
When we spoke to CEO Jeremy Fish last year, the company had just implemented one of the largest investment programmes in the UK plant hire sector, worth over a quarter of a billion pounds, resulting in the company being able to offer the most up-to-date and youngest fleets in the industry. This year, investment in improvements is projected to reach £60 million.
Mr Fish confirmed that over the last 12 months, the company has again moved forward, increasing its focus on digitisation and eco-friendly operations on site. “We are increasingly becoming a multi-category equipment rental specialist, trying to establish ourselves as a leader in digitisation and sustainability in the rental space,” he said, adding that being fuel- and carbon-efficient is Ardent’s number one environmental priority.
Green investment
“We’re continuing our major fleet renewal programme by investing in the latest construction machinery, which is around 30% more fuel efficient than the older models. In addition, we’re now working with several suppliers who share our vision of reducing our carbon footprint in every area of our organisation.”
The latest additions to the fleet include electric power access and a new fleet of solar-powered generators. Trials show that customers can reduce their total temporary power costs by 60% and emissions by 80% compared to conventional diesel generators. 30 units are being delivered over the first half of 2023.
Earlier last year Ardent invested in a fleet of electric and hybrid boom lifts. Carbon emissions from the solar-hybrid generators and boom lifts are being offset through Ardent’s carbon offsetting programme as part of its partnership with Climate Impact Partners.
“Both those propositions, the electric-powered access and the generators come with comprehensive telematics reporting. The customers can see exactly what they’re doing in terms of utilisation, safety, productivity, and cost management.”
The use of data and telematics to help customers manage the productivity of their fleet has been Ardent’s competitive advantage for some time. The company’s own multi-award-winning Site Manager software that tracks the performance of the equipment on hire has been used, and appreciated, by customers for several years.
Smart fuel tank system
As a response to rising fuel costs, Ardent has spent the last 18 months developing a solution to reduce fuel losses for customers by improving accountability and warning where fuel is being tampered with: Fuel-IT, a Smart Fuel Tank system using industry-leading telematics.
The system includes Fuel-IT Manager, a cloud-based portal, that enables users to monitor their fuel tank activity on a real-time basis. Low or critical fuel-level alerts can be notified to site managers, and alerts also notify them of potential misappropriation of fuel, spillage, or leakage.
Analytics reporting enables fuel dispersals to be tracked against specific assets so that fuel can be fully accounted for, and anomalies queried. Accurate carbon reporting is also possible. The system is intuitive to use and doesn’t require any training.
“We are finding a lot of customers want this product as it clearly helps them achieve significant savings in terms of fuel costs. We have only six units in trial at the moment, but another 55 units have now been manufactured. These will be ready for deployment by the middle of July,” said Mr Fish.
Family-friendly company
Ardent Hire Solutions has also expanded. The company now runs 10 depots and has recently opened a Super Hub in Bedford, on a six-acre concreted site. The site provides considerable potential for future growth and expansion and includes a new training school to help address the issue of labour shortage.
“As in any sector, it is not easy to find quality people but Ardent has a good reputation in the market. It’s an organisation people want to work for. Even though many people think of us as a large company, we still consider ourselves to be a small, family-friendly, hands-on company where everybody knows everybody.”
The human touch has also been reflected externally. Last year, a team from Ardent Hire Solutions drove several vans across Europe to deliver essential supplies to Ukrainian refugees, and the help continues.
“We have set up the Plant and Hire Alliance, consisting of like-minded companies in the plant hire industry which are acting together to support the humanitarian effort in Ukraine. So far, we have managed to get 65 companies on board. Together, we have sent over two million pounds worth of aid to Ukraine,” noted Mr Fish, adding that another convoy will be sent to Ukraine in October.
“We’re looking for other companies to join us. We’ll do all the logistics and all the planning; all they have to do is to turn up with a van that has items. Anyone interested can get in touch through the Alliance website.”
Current trends
Speaking about current challenges, he admits that inflation has affected the whole industry. “We’ve seen very substantial price increases from the original equipment manufacturers, which unfortunately are passed onto customers. If we don’t increase prices, we won’t be able to invest in new equipment, and that will affect our customers’ projects.”
He affirmed that this inflationary environment will not hinder Ardent’s further growth. Business expansion will be helped by a trend that has intensified over the last 12 months: the shift from equipment purchase to equipment hire.
“We’re seeing people selling their fleets; we’re seeing quite a few people exiting the industry. This of course presents new opportunities for companies like Ardent. With our modern fleet, equipped with advanced telematics and complying with the latest environmental standards, we are ready to capitalise on those opportunities.”
