Winter 2001

Excellence In Training Award

It's not very often that a small business triumphs over the large ones but on occasions this happens!

Astley Hire was awarded the Excellence in Training Award at the HAE's awards for 2000.

At a glittering ceremony held in Birmingham, Stephen Dorricott (director) was awarded the trophy by Mark Houghton, director of the sponsor SpaceAir Mobiles.

In doing so they beat two of the largest national hire chains!

"We have always placed great importance on staff training", states Stephen Dorricott. "Training is a major factor in ensuring we maintain a focused approach to the business. Our customers require our staff to be well trained and knowledgeable so we place emphasis on ensuring they are.

As part of the submission to the award judges, Astley Hire showed evidence of having a structured training program. Each year a 'training needs analysis' is undertaken for the whole company based on individual staff appraisals. Training is carried out both internally, in areas such as administration, and externally with new product knowledge.

"Before any training is carried out, the objectives for the course are set both for the individual and the company", states Stephen. "The evaluation of the training outcome is also set, allowing the results to be fed back for analysis of effectiveness."

The employees benefit from training ranging from one-day seminars to block-release courses run by outside agencies. Subjects covered include hire desk procedures, customer service, health & safety, product operation and workshop practices.

"We regard training as giving added value. It builds staff loyalty and and raises productivity. They all feel involved and are empowered to run key aspects of the business such as suggesting new items for the hire fleet."

Astley Hire believes that on-going training in personnel development has brought enormous benefits. "Training impacts on all areas of a business, not just the employees. It improves the quality of the overall operation and promotes an enhanced company profile."

New Price List 2002

We have issued a new price list effective from January 2002. It is 4 years since our last list was properly updated. The new list covers all the range of equipment, we have tried to make it simple to read and quicker to reference items as most are now in table format.

We have introduced quite a few new products and dropped some others. Trends change and the new products reflect the changing requirements of our customers.

Prices also reflect changing trends, some prices have come down! This is due to equipment becoming cheaper to buy. However, overall there has been a 4% price rise.

The price increase I hope will be matched by an increase in our service, if it does not please let me know.

Customer Survey Results

In the summer newsletter we sent all our customers a questionnaire to complete, we are very pleased that overall you feel that we are doing a good job, and that each department is delivering a service that we can be proud of.

There are areas for improvement and we will be working hard this year to do so. We appreciate that transport is a concern to customers who require equipment to be delivered on time, so in the new year we will be employing outside transport to cover for busy periods.

Question	100%	75%	50%	25%	0%

Overall are you satisfied with our service?	88%	12%	-	-	-
Are you satisfied with our hire service?	94%	6%	-	-	-
Are you satisfied with our delivery service?	75%	25%	-	-	-
Are you satisfied with our accounts dept?	88%	12%	-	-	-
What % of your hires do you use us for?	59%	24%	17%	-	-
Would you recommend us?	88%	12%	-	-	-

Nice things you said about us:

"In 10 years of dealing with your company, I have never had any reason to complain"

"If I ring your Leigh depot and they don't have one, they will try their hardest to get one"

"Your staff are always helpful"

See more comments and tell us what you think.

New Members of Staff

Malcolm Rurnsey joined in October. He is responsible for ensuring that the Leigh hire desk runs smoothly and that customers are well looked after. Malcolm, aged 46, is married with 2 young daughters. His hobbies include climbing, walking and sport (he is a West Ham supporter). He has worked in the hire trade for PB Hire & Jewsonm, and was also branch manager for HSS at Widnes.

Carol Wright joined the contracts office in September and she is responsible for the administration of the Leigh contracts office. Carol is married with 2 young children.

History of Astley Hire Part 3 (1973 to 1974)

The business which was based at 159/161 Higher Green Lane, Astley, was growing steadily, specialsiing in pump hire and DIY equipment.

The pump hire business was becoming more competitive, Cyril Dorricott's biggest customer at the time was Brosleys (a local construction company based in Leigh). They suddenly decided to go into the plant hire business and formed their own company called 'Platn Hire, Leigh'.

This was a lesson in how things change in business. Astley Hire could no longer depend on pump hire for its income, and over the next few years the business was built more on DIY customers and local builders.

The range of equipment expanded to cover gardening, decorating, car maintenance and building. Cyril & Mildred were managing the business mostly on their own but did employ a part time fitter to help with the servicing. The children had now reached an age when they too could join the busines. Michael was 17 and Stephen 16.

It was Stephen who was the first to join in November 1973. Astley Hire also opened its second depot based at 29 Church Street, Atherton (which has now closed).

Stephen's job was to run the new shop! Problem was he couldn't drive, so Cyril would take him every morning to work to open up and then collect him in the evening! It would be 6 months before Stephen passed his test and could drive himself.

Having been brought up with hire and with the equipment, Stephen even at that early age had a lot of knowledge about the machinery.

The Atherton depot was closed all day Wednesday, so that Stephen could go to college (Astley Hire was keen on training even then!). Cyril & Mildred were keen even at this early stage to try innovative pieces of equipment. They would normally add to their hire fleet an item which customers constantly asked for, so the fleet grew every year.

As well as rotovators and grasscutters, they added a 'Litter Gobbler' in October 1974 for £236, by far their most expensive item of plant. The item was a gamble and never really proved to be a success.

In 1974 you could hire a cement mixer for £6/wk (now £21/wk), a Stihl saw for £7.50/wk (now £37/wk), and a Kango 950 cost £8/wk (now £42/wk).

Michael had decided to join the business in March 1974 and started working with his father to learn the technical side of the job!

The original shop at Astley was becoming too small for the growing range of equipment at it was about time that Mildred got her house back! So the decision was made to move to Brooklands Mill, English Street, Leigh.

To be continued…

£25 Gift Vouchers to be Won!

If you have confidence in using us, would you have confidence in recommending us?

Do you know of anyone who could use our services?

Would you be willing for us to use your name?

Please complete the pre-paid card (available with the printed newsletter or from one of our depots or sales reps) and if your recommendation is successful we will send you a £25 gift voucher. We will also offer the new company an incentive for giving us a try, that way everybody wins!

Promotions

This month we are offering large discounts on contract hires for heaters, plus cheaper scissor lift hires and scaffolding.

Make sure you check out the promotions page for all the latest offers!

New Products

We have introduced 5 new products this month, including 2 heaters and an air mover (ideal for drying out carpets after floods).

You can always find full details of the latest new products on our website.