Briggs held a fundraising day last month to raise GBP500 (USD822) for Dogs for the Disabled charity.

Briggs Equipment has invested GBP5.5 million (USD9.0 million) in new Yale forklifts to replace older Cat Lift Trucks forklifts as part of its GBP20 million (USD32.9 million) transition plan as it is now a distributor for Yale Materials Handling equipment.

The new short-term rental fleet of 450 Yale machines, consisting of counterbalance forklifts, order pickers, powered pallet trucks and reach trucks, takes Briggs' total Yale range to over 900 units with an average age of under 18 months.

Briggs asset manager Allan Parsons says the company has made a "huge step" in its transition plan of replacing its old short-term rental machines with new Yale trucks.

"We want to be totally committed to our Yale dealership and supply the most reliable and cost-effective short-term solutions for our clients who want to rent from as little as one day or up to one year.

"Short-term rental fleets are usually made up of very old equipment which come with high maintenance and repair costs. Our machines are virtually new, which will see fewer breakdowns and will keep service costs to a minimum," he says.

The company's five-year business plan started in 2008 when it started an investment program to update its short-term rental fleet with larger capacity and more varied machines, removing some older machines.

The program was aimed at meeting customer requirements and ensuring it offered some of the most advanced and modern equipment. With the introduction of the Yale brand last year, the recent investment "is continuing the trend, subsequently replacing the Cat Lift Trucks brand as we go through our transitional phase of replacing with Yale products", Parsons says.

Currently, Yale machines comprise 30% of Briggs's short-term rental fleet. Briggs hopes to increase this to 55% in the next six months, bringing the total number of Yale machines to 1,200.

"It is Briggs' intention to have 85% of its total short-term rental fleet with Yale products. This will be realised over the next few years and will complete our transitional plan," Parsons explains.

Separately, Briggs held a fundraising day last month to raise GBP500 (USD822) for Dogs for the Disabled. Two of the company's directors became 'Dogsbodies' for the morning and swapped their daily activities to help out in different departments including reception, marketing and the post room.

The Dogs for the Disabled charity trains assistance dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities and families who have children with autism.