Executive Hire News › Archives › August 2009 › Profile: Sydenhams Hire Centres : On the march in Wessex
Profile: Sydenhams Hire Centres : On the march in Wessex
Robert Aplin visits Sydenhams Hire Centres in Frome and Warminster and talks with Director Rick Biddiscombe about his plans for this growing operation.
For most readers Sydenhams Hire Centres will be a new name. This is hardly surprising as a hire business bearing this name was only established in May last year. Sydenhams itself, originally founded in Poole in 1874, is an independent timber and builders’ merchants with an annual turnover of over £50m. It operates from 15 branches in Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight - an area best described by traditionalists as representing the ancient Anglo Saxon kingdom of Wessex.
Sydenhams’ first move into hire was in October 2007 when it bought FHC Hire Centres, which traded from outlets in Frome and 10 miles away in Warminster. The original Frome Hire Centre - hence the FHC initials - was founded in 1983 by husband and wife team, Dudley and Lesley Biddiscombe, who also ran a building business as well distributing Powerfab towable micro excavators and Toplift ladder hoists. Like the formation of so many hire activities, FHC started in response to customers’ requests to hire this equipment.
Rick Biddiscombe, Dudley and Lesley’s son, left school in 1980 and became an apprentice bricklayer in the family business, joining FHC in 1985 as the potential in hire began to be realised. “We started on the Marston Trading Estate in Frome with one unit in a row of five, and, within six years, we occupied all five units. During this time, Balfour Beatty built the Frome by-pass and this brought us a tremendous amount of work. In 1991, we moved into our current premises on the Estate and, in 1994, added an outlet in Warminster, following the purchase of T H Tool Hire.”
Ten years later, Rick wanted to add more outlets, whereas his parents, by now in their early 60s, did not want any more headaches. “There appeared to be three options open to us. My parents could have sold the business to me, but I couldn’t afford to buy it. They could have taken a back seat, made me a Director and let me get on with it without interfering, but my Dad couldn’t do that. As a result, in early 2007, my parents actively tried to sell the business. A national hirer wanted to buy FHC, but it was not the right offer for our staff.”
“Impressed by the quality of staff”
According to Sydenhams Group Finance Director Ray Pride, “when we looked at FHC we were impressed by the quality of the staff and the reputation that the business had with its customers. Many merchants have an interest in tool hire. Usually this operates within the merchant branch and, as a result, there is only a limited range of items available for immediate hire.
“Staffing is also low, and the overall result is, at best, inconsistent, and, at worst, provides a poor service. Tool and plant hire is a specialist business and, although in many cases it serves the same customer as a builders’ merchant, it is my belief that it operates best in a standalone environment.”
In acquiring FHC’S Frome depot, Sydenhams has undoubtedly bought a first class hire outlet. This large depot, on a 3/4 of an acre site, offers an extensive range of tools, as well as plant up to 3 tonne. This limit was set as this weight class could be delivered on FHC’s existing 7.5 tonne vehicle fleet. To house this range of equipment, the Frome depot has a large plant yard, together with a huge showroom and counter area. Four fitters are based in its extensive workshops, which also carry out customer repairs. In total, the team in Frome comprises 12 staff, including three hire counter staff, three drivers, a yardman and Manager.
Serving tarmac contractors
Based in the middle of an area with a large number of quarries, the Frome depot has, over the last 20 years, built up specific fleets of equipment to serve tarmac surfacing and civil engineering contractors. According to Rick, “we offer large numbers of Wacker vibrating plates, Benford and Mortimer rollers and Stihl disc cutters. Most of our rollers are single drum machines, but we also offer 80cm and 120cm units. At any time in the last 10 years, we would have had at least 15 rollers on hire.”
FHC’s mini excavator fleet comprises a dozen 3 tonne Takeuchi machines and a further 12 Takeuchi 1.5 tonne units. “The main thing about these minis is their durability and reliability, and customers like them. In the last 12 months, we have added more mini excavators and are constantly updating our fleet. ” 10 Benford 3 tonne dumpers complete FHC’s plant line-up. “From this site, we also offer an entire range of gardening equipment, a wide variety of power tools and all the other items that you would expect from a tool hirer. In short, we offer everything from a screwdriver to a mini digger. However, it is our plant offering that sets us apart.”
“Model outlet”
Recognising that the Frome outlet is treated as an entirely individual depot, it is the nearby Warminster outlet that Rick describes as “the model outlet on which future Sydenhams branches will be based.” Without any significant industry in the town, the branch offers a large fleet of garden machinery, which is always on display outside the depot.
At 2,700ft2, the unit features another large display of readily available equipment inside, including power tool and accessories. Its own workshops undertake a large number of customer repairs, much of which is garden machinery. According to Depot Manager, Richard Chalmers, “we can normally service machines like Stihl TS400 disc cutters the same day. Customers know that we look after our own hire fleet kit and they know that they will get the same service.“
The third branch to bear the Sydenhams name was, surprisingly, in Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Formerly KN Tool Hire, originally established in 2006, it was acquired last November. Located next to Sydenhams Builders Merchants’ branch on the island, Rick simply says, “an opportunity arose and we took it. As a company, we now take up a huge area on the industrial estate where we are based and our presence does not go unmissed.” Whilst the majority of its fleet is tools, this branch also offers 1.5 tonne JCB excavators. “We bought JCB because it was the only manufacturer with a service engineer based on the island.”
Largest acquisition to date
In terms of the number of outlets, Sydenhams’ largest acquisition to date was completed last December when it purchased Mitchell Hire and Sales. With locations in the four corners of Dorset - Dorchester, Weymouth, Swanage and Blandford, Mitchell had been established for over 30 years. The Dorchester outlet also acted as its Head Office. Rick describes it as “an ideal depot that also provides the main workshops for the business. Blandford is another ideal location, as is the highly visible Weymouth operation. On the outside, Swanage appears to be the smallest hire centre you have ever seen, but inside it is three times bigger than it appears. Each of these outlets is similar to our Warminster branch in both size and equipment profile.”
All the former Mitchell depots and vehicles have now been re-branded as Sydenhams. Having bought the business, and retained all its staff, Sydenhams invested £500,000 of new kit immediately across the depots and is now in the process of adding another £200,000 worth of equipment. “The company needed this investment as its fleet was lacking in both quantity and quality. It also had a backlog of equipment under repair and our Frome depot has been helping them clear this.
“These four depots are now tidy, well stocked with new equipment and breaking even. We are encouraging each Manager to take responsibility for his own location and we are training staff at Weymouth and Swanage to undertake their own repairs. In addition, we are also ready to roll out an inspHire software system across the outlets during the course of this summer, although our Ryde branch already operates this system.
“Whilst we still have work to do to fully integrate the former Mitchell depots into our way of operating, we are pleased with where we are now. If we had opened five outlets from scratch, it would have cost us millions, rather than asset value. Planning permission has already been granted for a site in Gillingham next to Sydenhams’ builders’ merchant branch. This would represent our first purpose-built Sydenhams Hire outlet. When the recession is over, we will be ready to grasp the opportunities that being part of Sydenhams will bring.” •
www.sydenhams.co.uk
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