Direct Customer Relationships
Rental Revolution: A Story of Partnership
When Travis Perkins, the largest builders’ merchant in the UK, planned the building and growth of their successful tool rental business, they faced an inimitable challenge: They required a unique solution for their specific needs.
To see how Travis Perkins arrived at its solution, let’s hear straight from Alice Wise, Head of Commercial at Travis Perkins Hire, who was part of the team leading the project for the tool rental company.
“For years we have been providing equipment for hire to our customers, as this complements our building materials product offer. We have seen significant growth in our hire proposition each year and are on track to deliver yet another record-breaking year. With such high levels of growth, and even more forecast for our hire business, we required a reliable and sustainable solution to support us moving forward.
For Travis, our growth plans are not just about the tools and standard services, but about finding a solution tailored to meet the needs of our evolving business, creating added value to support our customers and build loyalty. We knew it was not easy to find such a solution and needed someone we trust. So, we started sharing our vision with the Hilti team. Our need was quite exceptional as we not only wanted to optimize the cost and keep the hassle of operations to a minimum, but we also needed flexibility to meet our expansion.
We have been working with Hilti for around ten years. Our relationship goes far beyond tools; whenever we face a business problem, the Hilti team is our partner in finding a solution.
Alice Wise, Head of Commercial at Travis Perkins Hire
Walid Hussain, National Tool Hire Manager at Hilti, explained to us how Fleet Management could provide us tools with cutting-edge technology and resources for special services. The Hilti team had a perfect idea of what the ideal solution could be like for us, but we didn’t have a clear picture. So, intrigued by the proposal, we wanted to have a deeper look using Hilti’s Tool Park Optimization. Hilti spent weeks and months with our designated team members in collecting data and analyzing our operations. Along with Hilti, after drawing conclusions which focused on meeting our unique business needs, we were offered a tailor-made premium Fleet Management contract. Following this, we received 5,250 new, ready-to-rent Hilti tools, without the associated costs for repair and maintenance. The team at Travis Perkins Hire was extremely excited to receive the fleet delivery.”
Aligning the key teams from both Travis Perkins Hire and Hilti became the norm for us. Integrating Travis Perkins Hire’s specific processes for ready-to-rent into our solution, processes and systems was one of our day-to-day activities.
Walid Hussain, National Tool Hire Manager, Hilti Great Britain
This relationship-driven and solution-oriented partnership has not only saved the cost of purchasing tools and reduced the administrative burden of repair and services but will also help Travis Perkins Hire expand in the future in line with the company’s growth objective. Moreover, it helped Travis Perkins Hire reduce their carbon footprint, aligning with Hilti’s growing commitment to safety and sustainability.
Close collaboration leads to better experiences. Read more about Lead 2030 and our objective of value creation through leadership, built on differentiation and direct customer relationships.