Fork Rent has invested in the full range of JCB telescopic handlers.

Fork Rent has ordered 600 JCB Loadall telescopic handlers as part of an expansion program.

The plant hire company, owned by Guy and Trudi Nicholls, made the investment, which comes after it acquired more than 1,000 JCB telehandlers over the past two years. The Ipswich firm's tally of JCB machine purchases has passed the 4,000 mark.

Managing director Guy Nicholls says Fork Rent invested over GBP40 million (USD63 million) in new machinery in 2010/11.

"The latest investment means that by April 2012, all machines in Fork Rent's fleet will be less than 24 months old, providing customers with reliability and peace of mind. Fork Rent is recognised as having the best fleet of telehanders in Europe in terms of specification and age," Nicholls adds.

Fork Rent has announced plans to construct a new, purpose-built national headquarters in Ipswich and a new depot in Hullavington, situated off the M4 corridor. The company is also looking for a new location in Northern England to further improve its network and accessibility for customers.

"While the UK market remains highly competitive, it is really important that we concentrate our efforts on offering all our customers the best-value-for-money machines in the market and that they can rely on us in terms of our back-up services.

"Our target is to win customers and keep them happy for many years, not just one term. This takes effort, but we are prepared and will continue to put that effort in to keep our customers happy," Nicholls explains.

Fork Rent bought the machines from JCB dealer Watling JCB and have invested in the full range of JCB telescopic handlers from the 515-40 to 515-170 models.