Pandemic could promote formwork rental

The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to increase rental penetration in the falsework and formwork sector, according to Michael Stoevelbaek, Managing Director of Germany-based manufacturer Paschal.

“The trend towards rental is growing, and it will be helped by the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. People will see the financial sense of rental,” says Stoevelbaek.

Originally from Denmark, where 100% of the company’s business is rental, Stoevelbaek started working for Paschal’s Danish business in 2006, where he eventually became Manager. He then moved to Germany and became Managing Director of Paschal at the start of 2019, replacing Barbara Vetter.

Covid-19 has so far had little impact on Paschal’s operations in Germany, where the company is headquartered, with the manufacturer operating at almost the same level as usual.

However, Stoevelbaek imagines this could change; “Although Paschal has not yet been hard hit by the coronavirus, I expect the effect will be felt later. The slow reaction of the construction industry is typical in crises like these.”

Pandemic aside, Stoevelbaek says the continuing growth of rental will also be driven by the fact that projects are increasingly differentiated and therefore different types of formwork are required from one job to the next.

“A benefit of formwork compared to pre-fabrication is that it can make interesting or unusual structures,” says Stoevelbaek.

“Germany used to be just sales,” Stoevelbaek says. “Around 20 years ago, about 20% of the business was rental; today, about 50% is rental.”

Paschal has five depots in Germany, plus its head office, and it works with a network of 30 partners to give coverage across the country. About one third of those partners offer rental.

Paschal has operations around the globe in 18 countries in total.

Read our feature on Falsework and Formwork in the upcoming June issue of IRN for a full update on the sector.