Good showing for access companies at rental awards

Companies associated with access did well at the IRN/ERA rental awards: Sweden's Lipac Liftar won the Small Rental Company of the Year category; Haulotte Group won Rental Product of the Year for its H28TJ+ boom and Gruppo Venpa3's CEO Mendes Migotto became Rental Person of the Year.

On receiving his award Alexandre Saubot, chief operating officer of Haulotte, joked; "Although it is fantastic to get an award - orders would be good as well.

“All the Haulotte teams will be very happy with this prize which rewards their permanent commitment of continuous improvement of the performance of our Haulotte ranges in respect to ease of use and safety for customers."

The awards were presented at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, UK in front of an audience of 250 European rental executives and ERA members. The event took place on the evening of the 26 May, during the ERA's annual convention, which started on Tuesday 26 May and concluded on Wednesday 27th.

George Burnett, a founder of Ashtead Group and keynote speaker at the ERA's convention, was presented with a special ‘Lifetime Achievement' award.

As well as the winners a number of access companies featured in the award shortlists (see below), including Hoyde Service and Destination Bulgaria.

The IRN/ERA rental awards are jointly organized by Access International's sister publication, IRN (International Rental News) and the ERA (European Rental Association)

Rental Company of the Year (more than 10 depots)
Aggreko (WINNER)
A-Plant
Malthus

Rental Company of the Year (10 depots or less)
Cofiloc
Dest Bul (Destination Bulgaria)
Hoyde Service
Lipac Liftar (WINNER)

Rental Product of the Year
Dustcontrol (AirCube aircleaner)
Haulotte Group (H28TJ+) (WINNER)
Hitachi (ZX14-3)
Niftylift (Height Rider 21 Bi-Energy)

ERA/IRN Rental Person of the Year
Erkki Norvio (Ramirent)
Mendes Migotto (Gruppo Venpa3) (WINNER)
Pierre Boels (Boels Verhuur)

The judges for the awards this year were: Arne Bugge (Secretary General, Norwegian Rental Association), Gerard Deprez (President, ERA), Michel Petitjean (Secretary General, ERA), Peter Schrader (Managing Director, MVS Zeppelin) and Chris Sleight (Editor, Construction Europe).