U.K.’s A-Plant Acquires Hewden Assets out of Administration

Ashtead plc, parent company to Sunbelt Rentals and U.K. rental company A-Plant, has acquired some of the assets of Hewden, one of the U.K.’s largest equipment rental firms. Ashtead bought Hewden’s powered access and power generation fleet, five onsite locations that service major petrochemical customers, the Hewden brand name and its Interlift lifting and material handling business.

Michael Roth

Nov. 23, 2016

APlant accommodation units at a UK jobsite — A-Plant accommodation units at a U.K. jobsite.

Ashtead is buying the assets from Hewden’s administrators EY. Some of the Hewden employees will join the A-Plant business. A-Plant’s chief executive Sat Dhaiwal said the acquisition enhances A-Plant’s offering in the industrial sector particularly. “We are pleased to be taking over a number of important onsite depots and major petrochemical facilities and will ensure that a high level of service is maintained for all customers through the integration process,” said Dhaiwal.

EY was appointed as administrators to Hewden earlier in the week, attempting to reshape the business to focus on higher margins and better returns on assets and services. Hewden said last month that it was hit hard by market uncertainty in the U.K. in the wake of the Brexit vote to leave the European Union, which, the company said at the time, adversely affected a number of large construction and capital investment projects.

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.