Change comes slowly for HSS Hire
HSS Hire, the national tool and equipment hire company which has the majority of its workforce based at Trafford Park in Manchester, has warned of lower fourth quarter results as its plan for operational change bleeds into 2017.
The company, which has announced a turnover of £256m (2015: £230.8m) for the nine months to October 1, said the scale, complexity and investment in the operational change being rolled out across the group, meant it had been extended through to the first quarter of 2017.
“This will impact on our core Rental and related revenue growth, and reduce the speed at which we can optimise our remaining network and reduce operating costs. As a result, Q4 trading will be at the lower end of management’s expectations,” it said.
In July, the company put the finishing touches to its new 36,000sq ft refurbishment centre in Trafford Park, which HSS said is driving capital efficiency.
The custom-built centre on Mosley Road will allow HSS to increase refurbishment capacity by 50% compared to the company’s previous site on Westinghouse Road.
The centre is specially built to refurbish specific larger pieces of equipment in the group’s hire fleet such as scissor lifts, generators and lighting towers, and will drive equipment safety and sustainability through engineering excellence.
All branches in England and Wales are now being serviced from HSS’ new National Distribution and Engineering Centre, with locations in Scotland being rolled in during the first quarter of next year.
HSS continued to focus on reducing operational cost duting the period, and closed 18 underperforming branches in October and four distribution centres since the half year end.
Net debt increased slightly to £240.4m, which it said reflected increased exceptional costs largely related to the NDEC implementation.
John Gill, chief executive, said: “We made further progress with our strategy in the period, particularly with the growth in our market share and the implementation of the NDEC. Our investment through FY16 has laid the foundations for us to improve our customer experience and service proposition and deliver capital and operational efficiency.”
He added: “Looking ahead to 2017 we will continue the optimisation of our network across both distribution centres and local branches to deliver the benefits of our new operating platform, delivering an enhanced customer proposition, with a primary focus to drive EBITA margin growth.”
