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Exhibitor Profiles : Cool opportunities

A specialist climate control equipment hirer is launching a new service to enable other companies to meet local demand with minimal capital outlay.

Extreme weather can obviously bring business opportunities for hirers. Unexpectedly hot or cold conditions create demand for air conditioning and heating equipment, while flash flooding leads to emergency requests for pumping and drying products - as was dramatically illustrated during the summer of 2007. However, preparing for such eventualities can be difficult. Hirers may be unwilling to invest in stocks of equipment that may not be required for long periods while normal conditions prevail and, moreover, the current economic background means capital resources must be allocated carefully.

A company that aims to help hirers meet the challenge is Cool Services Ltd, based in Shropshire. It was founded in 1978 to offer a fixed air conditioning installation service, subsequently adding heating and drying equipment sales, and seven years ago it established a separate hire activity, Cool Services Hire, which has dedicated premises in Kingswinford, near Dudley. The Shrewsbury head office also has a 24,000ft2 workshop and warehouse facility.

The hire activity is headed up by Director, Kevin Scott, who has 30 years’ industry experience, having worked with Andrews Sykes and Rapid Heatbusters before helping to establish a climate hire equipment depot in the Midlands for Air Trembath. “The opportunity arose to set up and run my own specialist depot for Cool Services in 2002 and we have never looked back,” he says. “Our fleet amounts to more than 2,000 items including portable air conditioning units, evaporative coolers, fans, indirect and direct fired portable heaters, dehumidifiers and carpet dryers. It must be one of the largest offered by an independent hire business.

Emergency requirements

“We can meet emergency requirements for critical situations such as live events, film productions, communications, health care environments, offices and industrial premises, as well as climate control equipment for marquees and flood damage restoration. We sold 9,000 fans to insurers’ approved contractors immediately after the 2007 floods, for use in tandem with dehumidifiers to keep air moving for maximum water removal.

“Our fleet is now large enough for Cool Services Hire to offer equipment on a crosshire basis nationally. Hirers can pick up equipment from our West Midlands depot, or we can deliver quickly anywhere in the country. This will enable them to meet local demand as required without having to invest in products themselves. Full details will be available on our stand at the Executive Hire Show in February.”

The company has a purpose-built facility for the repair and servicing of dehumidifiers, heaters and air conditioning equipment. “There is not a brand that our specialists cannot work on,” says Kevin Scott, “and this means that, as well as maintaining a hirer’s existing fleet, if they have an old machine lying unused, we can get it running effectively and ready to earn money.” Technicians are also qualified to ensure that appropriate equipment meets the F-Gas regulation No 842/2006 that became law in July 2007. It governs the containment and recovery of certain fluorinated gases that might be present in quantities of 3kg and above in air conditioning equipment and heat pumps. Staff can check for leakages and see that information is correctly recorded and labelled.

“Following the credit crunch, perhaps this is the time when more than ever we need to tighten our belts, outsourcing or crosshiring specialist equipment from other hirers” says Kevin Scott. “Also, with our experience of this market, people can just pick up the phone and ask about the equipment they might need for a particular application, and we might be able to suggest additional avenues to hire. We believe that there is huge potential for hirers wanting to supply climate control and flood restoration products, and by crosshiring from us they can offer a bigger range with minimum outlay.” •

0800 374217
www.coolservices.co.uk