Tool and plant hire firm marks successful first year in business

A North Staffordshire equipment hirer is celebrating a successful first year in business this Christmas thanks to its round-the-clock service and a fleet of 20 new compact JCB machines.

Newcastle-under-Lyme-based Instant Tool and Plant Hire was founded 12 months ago by husband-and-wife team Andy and Joanne Macartney.

The pair launched the business with a major investment in brand new equipment from the Rocester digger manufacturer – worth in excess of £300,000 and supplied by local dealer Gunn JCB, based in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.

The Macartneys clocked up a combined 40 years working together in the vehicle recovery sector prior to setting up the business on Borough Road.

The hire firm – which is open seven-days-a-week and is backed by 24-hour support line – supplies building and landscaping equipment to residents and businesses across Staffordshire and Cheshire.

And the company has seen instant success, with great demand for its small plant and tools for hire, driven by a summer boom in DIY and gardening projects during the Covid-19 lockdown; leading to increased business from small building and landscape firms from across the region.

The firm has subsequently gone from strength-to-strength, already acquiring the business of long-established Castle Tool Hire during the course of its first year.

Director Andy Macartney said: “We have been absolutely delighted with our successful first year in plant hire and wish to thank those valued customers across the city and surrounding area who took a chance on a new player in the market and have stood by us ever since.

“Our inspiration for the business came from our own struggles to source equipment quickly, reliably and out of office hours when doing our own projects at home. We recognised there was a gap in the market for a plant and tool hirer prepared to do whatever it takes to help customers. That’s where the idea for a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week hirer that ‘never says no to customers’ was born and that ethos has brought loyalty from our customers in return.”

Fellow director Joanne Macartney said: “Once we made the decision to go for it, it had to be with JCB. Supporting a British manufacturer was important to us – as was the ability to source the bulk of our wide-ranging fleet from one place. There was also great synergy with a local, successful business still run by the founding family to this day.”