Briggs and Hiremech executives formalise the sale

Briggs Equipment has acquired Hiremech, an independent dealer based in North London.

Under the deal, Hiremech will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Briggs and will continue to trade under its own name with all current operational contacts remaining in place.

Following completion of the acquisition, Hiremech will represent the Hyster and Utilev brands of forklifts as well as having access to Hako and JLG Equipment.

Briggs recognises that Hiremech has produced consistent revenue and profit growth in recent years and believes that, through being part of the Briggs group, Hiremech can fulfil its full potential going forward.

Peter Jones, group managing director of Briggs Equipment, says: "Bringing together two businesses with a breadth and depth of industry knowledge allows us to lay strong foundations to offer stronger support to our customers, improve efficiencies, benefit from economies of scale, and increase our market awareness and share for the future. Briggs are committed to meeting our owner Sammons Enterprises' core objectives and providing a strong return on their investment, and this acquisition supports that objective.

"We expect that Hiremech's existing customer base will benefit from greater flexibility in financing, a wider choice of machines on long-term rental and access to an extremely diverse range of equipment from Briggs' short-term hire fleet."

For Paul Green, managing director of Hiremech, the acquisition "will mean we can continue to strengthen our position in the local market through the support and benefits that come from being part of a national business".

Hiremech has been active in the London forklift industry for 20 years and has 700 forklifts out on hire at any given time.