M A G A Z I N E
Among these are Ainscough Crane Hire, one of the UK’s largest providers of heavy lifting equipment. This is mostly a hose supply contract, Grant explains. “They don’t have a lot of breakdowns. We supply their depots but they have their own engineers, so between us we must be doing a good job.” In the East End of London, another iconic customer is Billingsgate Market, the UK’s largest inland fish market, which Pirtek Docklands has been servicing for around eight years. The self-contained site covers 13 acres with 98 stands and 30 shops, including two cafes; a number of individual cold rooms; a 1,500 tonne freezer store; an ice making plant and 14 lock-up shops used by processors, catering suppliers and merchants. The contract provides a steady stream of work, Grant says. “We’re out there around once a week, sometimes more. It’s a good source of income. “We mainly work on their cleaning equipment, wash down hoses, fire hoses and hose reels. They also have a mini sweeper that washes down all in one.”
In general, the franchise does a mixture of one-off roadside breakdown jobs and ongoing maintenance contracts. “It’s about 50-50,” Grant says. Of the longer-term contracts, he details, “Most of our work is on regular hose jobs – when it breaks we fix it. There is a certain amount of ongoing maintenance, but basically once the job is done, it’s done.”
With Crossrail being one of the most significant construction ventures in London for many years, Pirtek Docklands was willing to supply specialist and non- specialist parts to contractors when called upon. “We used to supply whatever they wanted,” says Grant, “including completely unrelated stuff that they asked for simply because we could respond so quickly.” “It’s all part of the service,” says Grant. “Maintaining the relationship means we will get more work in the future.” The Docklands franchise has a number of ongoing service contracts related to the light industry and construction in its area.
UK 0800 38 24 38 ROI 1800 74 78 35 www.pirtek.eu
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