Kerridge Commercial Systems Acquires U.K. Software Provider inspHire
Kerridge Commercial Systems, a leading supplier of software to wholesalers, merchants and other distributive businesses, has acquired rental industry software maker inspHire and Current-RMS. inspHire supplies rental software to Europe-, United States- and Australia-based companies that provide equipment to businesses in the equipment and tool, construction, access and lifting, medical, oil and gas as well as specialist sectors. Current-RMS supplies cloud-based, fully integrated rental management solutions to the AV, production and event industries.
Solutions provided by U.K.-based KCS are used by 15,000 companies worldwide and include fully integrated ERP systems comprising supply chain management, financial accounting, CRM, warehouse and dispatching, eCommerce, ePOS and business intelligence. Both acquisitions will allow KCS to strengthen its presence in the rental industry and to offer additional functionality to its U.K. and global customer base. The inspHire and Current-RMS teams have welcomed the acquisitions, as KCS will be investing in the development in their products, as well as maintaining and supporting them in the future. KCS will provide support for inspHire’s expansion in the United States, U.K. and Europe, the company said.
“The acquisitions of inspHire and Current-RMS deliver a great opportunity for us to strengthen our presence in the hire software market in the U.K., as well as developing further global opportunities in this sector,” said Ian Bendelow, CEO of KCS. “They are both very high-quality businesses with offerings that are complementary to our own. We’re looking forward to working with their employees and to welcoming them to the KCS family.”
“inspHire is the leading rental software provider in the market with aspirations to offer software to a wider rental world,” said Graham Dobbs, managing director at inspHire. “We knew this wouldn’t be easy but was a challenge we welcomed. Joining forces with KCS has made that challenge easier to overcome, KCS already has that global footprint which will accelerate dual growth, plus, our two companies complement each other on many different levels. Our customers can look forward to accessing more features and functions from the combined offerings in the near future. We are all very excited at the opportunities this acquisition brings, and we are looking forward to the future with our new home, KCS.”
inpsHire will continue to operate as an independent business unit within KCS, under existing management teams, with the same people and the same products. However, the acquisition will add value to all stakeholders, customers, employees and investors, the company said.
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.