Plant hire company in £11m JCB order

Expanding plant hire company Boels Rental is investing in a fleet of JCB machines worth more than £11 million in their third major order in three years.

Boels Rental is buying more than 300 machines, with delivery set to be completed by the end of March 2014. The deal means that Boels now runs a fleet of more than 1,000 JCB machines.

JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “We are delighted to have secured such a significant order from one of Europe’s most important rental companies. This is the third year in succession that JCB has won this major business from Boels which speaks volumes for the superior quality, performance and efficiency of JCB’s machines.”

The multi-million pound deal has been placed by the Netherlands-based company for a range of micro and mini excavators, telescopic handlers and rough terrain forklift trucks. The Loadall telescopic handlers and JCB rough terrain forklifts are all powered by JCB’s Ecomax engine, which offers fuel savings of up to 7%.

Pierre Boels, CEO of Boels, said: “Performance and efficiency were key factors in our decision to purchase the JCB machines. In particular, the fuel savings offered by the Ecomax-powered products are particularly important, as being environmentally responsible is essential to our business.”

All the machines are also being supplied with JCB’s LiveLink telematics system which monitors service requirements and protects them from theft.

The Boels business, based in the Maastricht region, started in 1977 when Pierre Boels Senior began a small tool rental enterprise from his garage with a single grinding machine. The firm has more than 300 outlets and operates from more than 1,800 rental locations in hardware stores in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia and Poland. The company employs more than 2,300 people.