Portakabin opens up in Luxembourg and Toulouse

Portakabin is expanding its mainland Europe operations with its first rental location in Luxembourg and plans to establish a location in Toulouse in south west France.

The Luxembourg market has in the past been services by Portakabin’s Belgian rental locations, while the Toulouse depot will service south west France, an area currently covered by Portakabin’s Bordeaux location.

Derek Carter, chief executive of Portakabin Group, said, “We believe we have a unique position in the market, which is not currently being served in Luxembourg and so this latest expansion offers huge potential and opportunity for Portakabin. It is also a positive move for the UK as the majority of our buildings for Europe will continue to be manufactured at our head office and production centre in York.

“Luxembourg has one of the strongest economies in Europe and its financial services sector continues to be particularly buoyant. We have already had considerable success in the country, servicing customers via our Belgium operation”.

The Luxembourg depot will target similar sectors to the UK hire centres, including schools and universities, local authorities, hospitals and clinics, commercial and financial services organisations, and transport companies.

The Toulouse location, meanwhile, will provide “a strategic link between France and Spain and is a key location for the aeronautical industry”, said Portakabin.

The company already has rental and sales operations in France, Belgium and the Netherlands and recently acquired Oecon Mobilraum GmbH, a manufacturer and distributor of modular buildings in Germany.

The announcement on its European expansion was made as the UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, visited the company at its York headquarters.

Mr Cameron said; “Here at Portakabin, there are 200 extra people who have been employed and there is exciting news about the expansion of the company’s operations in Europe.

“Portakabin is a business that is investing more, that’s building more, that’s exporting more and that’s employing more – it’s a real Yorkshire success story!”