Slowdown an ‘opportunity’ says Riwal

The slowdown in access markets in Europe will present opportunities for good quality rental companies to prosper, said Doron Livnat, one of the shareholders of Riwal.

Mr Livnat, speaking at the company’s 40th birthday party on the first day of APEX, told Access International that although he saw no major sign of a downturn in its main European markets, “it will come”.

He said a downturn would provide rental companies with an opportunity to prove they were better than their competitors, sorting out the weaker and stronger renters. Mr Livnat said there were opportunities for rental companies if they looked outside their domestic markets. In Addition to its businesses in the Netherlands, France, Spain and Denmark, Riwal is also renting in Brazil, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, Latvia and Croatia.

When asked if manufacturers were being responsible in the face in the slowdown, Mr Livnat said it was too early to say; “We’ve gone from 100 km/hr to 20 km/hr in three months –so it is still too early to say what they will do.”

Meanwhile, Jim Roest, who is running Riwal’s recently established rental business in Brazil, said there was sufficient demand for aerials in the country to double the total access rental fleet to 8000 machines. However, he said Riwal had just started renting – it has 30 machines – and would grow steadily over the next 12 months.

“There is a shortage of equipment in Brazil – it’s not just a shortage of platforms, it’s all construction equipment.” He said Riwal would focus entirely on aerials in Brazil.

Photo: Doron Livnat, centre, with Riwal colleagues at the company’s 40^th birthday celebration at APEX.