After 13 years of being active in the United Kingdom, Riwal announced it is actively considering a plan to cease its operations in the U.K. as of January 1, 2023. The plan is based on the long-term outlook of the U.K. rental market and the small market position of Riwal UK.
Riwal currently employs 51 staff members in the U.K.
“We do not see a viable long-term business for our operations, given the fierce market conditions and our limited market share,” said Pedro Torres, CEO of Riwal. “We have always experienced strong support from our highly qualified staff, however the U.K. market does not show the same performance and growth that we see in many of our other operations. We will of course be consulting with the employees and their representatives on the plan before any decision is finalized.”
The Riwal Holding Group, established in 1968 and headquartered in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, is an international rental and sales specialist of aerial work platforms, telehandlers and forklifts. Riwal is active in 15 countries, managing a fleet of approximately 20,000 machines and employing more than 1,400 people.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.