Plantforce buys Hawk's Hinkley business

UK rental company Plantforce Rentals is to acquire the equipment and employees from Hawk Plant that are working on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset, UK.

The announcement came days after Hawk Group entered administration. The acquisition price has not been disclosed.

Plantforce will take ownership of more than 100 Hawk machines and 100 full-time machine operators workforce working on the project, which is one of the largest construction sites in Europe.

Based in Bristol and with operations in the South West of the UK, Plantforce has already been working at Hinkley for more than four years and has 186 items of plant on the site. It will take over of Hawk’s site-based machinery, contracts and infrastructure.

Claire Trott, Managing Director of Plantforce Rentals, said; “This is a sad outcome for a company which has dominated the plant hire world for many years and a company we have very much respected. This is a strategic decision with our main priority being to secure the continued employment of the workforce on site and minimize the impact on the Hinkley Point C project.

“It has taken the last four days to secure the contract, works and staff. Plantforce’s fast reaction and ability to adapt has been key in making this deal happen, but it could not have been done without the input of Peter Carney and Alastair Lomax from [solicitors] TLT and all the team members from administrators EY and venture capital group BGF who have worked tirelessly through the weekend and this week to achieve what is a good outcome for all parties.”