Founded in 1974 to represent the needs of the hire industry and to share knowledge on issues of common concern and the future development of the industry, Hire Association Europe (HAE) has in excess of 800 members operating from more than 3000 depots and outlets, not only through the UK and Ireland, but also as far afield as Mainland Europe, Canada and Australia.
HAE is committed to helping create a stronger, thriving hire and rental sector; bringing members together and engaging and working with partner organisations. Underpinning all of this is its work to constantly improve the standards within the industry.
This, of course, is vitally important in the current economic climate, with HAE managing director, Graham Arundell, explaining: “In these tough times, our priority is to help members to control and reduce their costs – and by extension for HAE to be lean and cost-effective – so we can weather the turbulent and still challenging economic conditions. We are expanding our range of added value services exclusively for members, such as risk management, insurance, training, business advisory and safety.”
An excellent case-in-point is SafeHire, which is an HSE recognised hire industry standard for high levels of health, safety and customer service provision. For builders, contractors, local authorities or any hire customer, it is aimed at helping customers to be able to identify those hire company members who achieve a higher than average standards across the hire role. The Association considers SafeHire to be the ultimate in hiring and a target that all hire companies should aspire to.
The key point about SafeHire is that it is a Private Standard developed in conjunction with BSI and this is leading more and more companies to sign up to it. It is regularly updated to incorporate latest legislation and concerns. Everything is included: Health and Safety policy documents, injury reporting systems (RIDDOR), First Aid, Risk Assessments, staff and customer training matrix, staff induction forms, employee handbooks. All these essential items are written and designed for hirers and focus on the key areas to improve safety for customers and staff. Ultimately, SafeHire helps members to win more business and maintain their existing client base.
SafeHire is only one of a number of services that the HAE provides to its members. Others include HAE Direct (a specialist service for the supply of safety literature and allied products that help protect members and their customers), HAE’s Code of Conduct aimed at demanding the highest standards of professional conduct and ethical business practice, and HAE BusinessGuard, designed to help members keep on top of legislation, protecting their business and improving their competitiveness.
So whilst times remain very tough and cost pressures remain a challenge throughout the industry, HAE is helping members to remain buoyant and, indeed, is seeing some signs of growth. However, weakening consumer confidence and global market uncertainty are constant threats.
Continually attracting new members, HAE is looking to the future with both determination and optimism, with Graham Arundell commenting: “For HAE, it’s about continuing to show that we have a broad range of added value products and services, a dedicated team and an ability to put across the needs of the industry, whether to the media, Government, EU or other agencies.
“We will be looking to widen our service range, offer more training, and harness expertise within the industry to help us respond to government proposals, and help shape the business environment for our sector,” he concluded.
A strong, diversified advocate for the industry, HAE can successfully and accurately track the pulse of the hire and rental sector thanks to its wide range of members, taking in all types and sizes of business from a broad geographical area. This is being fuelled by HAE’s growing range of partner organisations, all of whom have the same commitment to quality products and service.
The key role of the hire and rental industry is in being an enabling force in supporting construction activity. HAE’s members provide the tools and equipment, supported by a safety and logistics operation, where and when the client needs them.
For further information please telephone 0121 380 4601 or visit www.hae.org.uk/.
