New Supercentre

The award winning Laois Hire / HSS Hire Group have opened a second depot in Cork as well as investing in a new range of Hamm Rollers and CompAir compressors.

The new HSS Hire branch is centrally located on a 1.5 acre site at Fortwilliam, Tivoli, in Cork. It will offer ease of access, more choice and larger equipment. It will also incorporate training rooms offering a range of industry recognised technical and safety courses. The company will also retain its already well established branch at Kinsale Road in Cork as the company’s market share in the region continues to grow.

Councillor Chris O’Leary, Lord Mayor of Cork City Council, commented at the opening, “I am very pleased HSS Hire has chosen Cork as the location for its super centre. In addition to the very welcome additional employment, 10 jobs, this decision reinforces Cork as a major distribution centre, which is not surprising given its high quality connectivity through road, rail, shipping and telecommunications.”

Robert Tobin, Regional Sales Manager for Cork, who is well experienced in the industry, especially in territory development, is delighted with the progress made. “We have already won some good local contracts and there is great potential to grow the business even further in this part of the country,” says Robert. “We are looking forward to a long and successful future here.”

The new branch carries a wide range of equipment and tools, including specialist powered access, large plant machinery, generators up to 1250kVa, Reintec cleaning equipment, and the new HSS training division. As with all HSS Hire branches, the new facility is supported by an extensive fleet of liveried vehicles and underpinned by an industry leading operating and distribution system. Customers also benefit from the expert workshop and refurbishment capabilities which are a feature of the HSS Hire network operations.

The Laois Hire / HSS Hire Group is currently focused on a programme of expansion in Ireland. With a new branch recently opened in Enniscorthy, and two other new branches recently opened in Northern Ireland – at Connswater in Belfast and in Portadown in County Armagh – and a further two branches due to open this year in Limerick and the Dublin Docklands. This adds to the Laois Hire and HSS Hire Group’s established network of 26 hire branches and super centres across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Michael Killeen, Managing Director of HSS Hire Ireland, Scotland and Isle of Man and the Laois Hire Group, says: “We’re committed to offering our customers more safety, more availability, more value and more support in order to ensure an unrivalled hire experience. The new branch in Tivoli will help us deliver the highest quality service to our customers.”

New plant

Laois Hire/HSS have recently purchased new Hamm rollers. This significant investment represents an increase in business for the popular hire company and also demonstrates the upturn in the Irish construction industry across the board.

Darran Hutchinson, Laois Hire Head of Ireland Sales commented: “The quality of the equipment Hamm supplies has proven itself, a lot of our key customers have specifically asked for this brand when requiring a roller.” He also pointed out that even when other brands are available, customers prefer using Hamm because of their performance and because they are comfortable to use. Another reason given is the service and back up given by Hamm makers, Wirtgen. We all know that in this industry it is crucial to have excellent service and response when a machine needs technical attention. Another key reason for the purchase was the value for money provided by the manufacturer.”

Michael Killeen is a Director of HSS Laois Hire and he commented: “Customers will be benefitting from this new investment. They are responding well to the excellent quality of the new machines. A trouble free machine means no customer down time and undue costs to contracts that need to be completed on tight schedules. We have noticed big demand all most immediately for these machines. We just roll them out in our depot and they go straight out on hire.”

New Agency

The group has recently taken on the highly regarded CompAir range of portable compressors.

Founded as Holman Bros in 1801, as a mining equipment manufacturer, based in Camborne, Cornwall, Holman was one of the largest mining equipment manufacturers globally, which included drill rigs, rock drills, air tools and compressors. As mining got less popular, the company focused on compressors as key growth area in the 1900’s and then merged with Broomwade in 1968 to form CompAir. Since then CompAir has continued to be a global market leader in portable compressors, and was acquired by Gardner Denver in 2008.

“CompAir were looking for a large distributor with a network of depots in Ireland and Laois Hire fitted the bill with strategically located depots coupled with a great reputation,” says Declan Kelly, Country Sales Manager Ireland. “We approached Niall Brennan of HSS Laois Hire and the rest is history. The two organisations are such a good fit because of our similar approach and drive towards business, with a passion to grow and for customer service and experience.”

The CompAir full range of portable compressors is available from Laois Hire, from 35-953cfm (FAD) at pressures from 4 bar(g) to 24 bar(g). This will be complimented by the full range of accessories and extras, including on board generators, aftercoolers and additional filtration, to hoses, jackhammers, demolition guns and scabblers.

“The quality of product and back up service are second to none and the competitive pricing is an additional bonus”, says Niall Brennan of Laois Hire. Predominant focus industries will be the civil engineering and groundworks companies, along with other specialist industries including dry ice blasting, shot blasting, ground exploration, grouting, drilling, piling, cable blowing, refurbishment plus many more.

Declan Kelly, Country Sales Manager for CompAir sees the relationship between the two companies developing further in the future: “We want to develop the relationship to the point that anybody looking for a compressor in Ireland thinks of Laois Hire and CompAir as the most trusted and reliable source to buy from, by not only supplying an industry leading product, but by also giving second to none support and back up for complete peace of mind.”

With the opening of new branches and an ever increasing range of equipment available, with the upturn in the construction industry across Ireland, the Laois Hire / HSS Hire Group is ready to look after all the requirements of the building sector.