Briggs Equipment invests £10.5million in short-term materials handling equipment fleet

As the UK’s leading independent nationwide specialist in short-term materials handling solutions, Briggs Equipment is this year investing a further £10.5million in its short term rental (STR) fleet, bringing the total number of machines available to 5,100 and significantly broadening the range.

"The face of short-term hire is changing as logistics businesses demand flexible and tailored customer centric solutions," says Allan Parsons, national rental manager at Briggs.

"As customer strive for added flexibility, contracts without onerous penalties for early termination or the return of machines that have become surplus to requirements are fast becoming a necessity."

Having identified STR as a key requirement for its customers’ needs, Briggs has been steadily building its capability over the past few years, making a capital investment of £50.5m in its fleet since 2010. Since January 2013 it has increased the size of the fleet by 4.8 per cent.

This year, £8.3million is being invested in new warehousing equipment. The mix of machines includes reach trucks, powered pallet trucks, stackers and order pickers, along with 2-6 tonne electric counterbalance forklifts. All of the equipment is the very latest specification and can be hired for periods of as little as one day up to 12 months to provide customers with the most reliable and flexible solution to meeting their seasonal, occasional and emergency needs.

Briggs is also boosting its short-term rental fleet with a range of specialised equipment, which represents a capital investment of almost £2million. Products includes JCB telehandlers, rough terrain vehicles and the Workmax utility terrain vehicle, Narrow Aisle Flexi equipment

and a variety of JLG aerial access equipment, including scissor lifts, boom lifts, toucan lifts and stock pickers.

"Having surveyed our existing customers’ requirements it became clear that what they want is not just the opportunity to hire in forklift trucks to cope with a spike in capacity every now and then, but a ‘one stop’ resource that will see them through those challenging periods when changes to their operations require the deployment of specialised materials handling equipment for a limited time," adds Allan.

"The £10.5million investment in our STR fleet this year means we can offer a highly cost-effective solution comprising equipment to handle a wide range of applications from fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to freight and construction, tailored contracts to meet individual customer needs and the engineering know how to maintain optimum equipment performance."

In addition to expanding its fleet Briggs has appointed a new specialist regional development team to further enhance the customer’s experience. Located throughout the UK, the team is being tasked with improving communication, maintaining high standards of service to promote customer satisfaction and developing new market opportunities.

All machines available from Briggs on a short-term rental basis are LOLER certified and, typically, they can be on site with the customer within 24 hours of an order being placed. Servicing and maintenance is provided by the company’s nationwide team of more than 600 mobile engineers and all STR customers are offered the option of fitting Briggs’ intelligent fleet management tool to reduce damage – and so lower bills – and improve site safety.