- published: 30 Jul 2015
- views: 1038
Equipment rental, also called plant hire in some countries, is a service industry providing machinery, equipment and tools of all kinds and sizes (from earthmoving to powered access, power generation to hand-held tools etc.) for a limited period of time to final users, mainly to construction contractors but also to the industry and to individual consumers.
The equipment rental induy is a relatively new industry, which first developed in Anglo-Saxon countries. The American Rental Association was founded as early as 1955, and first waves of consolidation took place as early as in the 70’s in America, leading to the creation of companies with nation-wide operations.
Europe is catching up since the 80’s. The industry has moved from mostly family-owned small businesses to the creation of a number of international groups, some of which have an annual turnover close to €1billion. In 2007, 5 out of 10 of the largest equipment rental companies in the world were European. The large majority of companies in the industry however still have fewer than 5 employees and concentration in the industry is expected to set for a pause in 2008-2009 as a consequence of the international credit crunch.