JCB has secured a deal to supply a fleet of its new generation mini excavators to one of the UK's leading tool and plant hire specialists.
Nottingham-based Hire Station has bought 76 mini excavators and four micro excavators to expand its role in the plant hire market. It is one of the biggest contracts involving the new JCB 801 range of mini excavators, which are made at JCB Compact Products in Cheadle.
The machines were launched at the international construction trade show Conexpo, held in Las Vegas, in March this year.
They will replace a number of older machines made by other manufacturers and are being rolled
out to a further 20 of Hire Station's 87 branches throughout the UK.
This means that a total of 40 of the company's branches now hire out JCB mini excavators.
They will be supplied to a broad spectrum of customers from owner operators to large national companies working on major construction and landscaping projects.
The contract was secured by dealer TC Harrison JCB, which supplied all the machines to Hire Station through its Alfreton branch in Derbyshire.
Hire Station managing director John Singleton said: "This deal has come about because we were looking to expand our mini excavator fleet and the JCB range is a key product in that area.
"We have been providing JCB plant machinery throughout our branches in the Midlands and Kent for some time and this enables us to roll out that operation to many more branches in the UK."
Hire Station currently employs 600 people nationally and supplies an extensive range of tools, small equipment and services to industry, construction and homeowners.
It also has two specialist business operations in Safeforce and Lifting Point.
The bulk of the order is made up of new 8014 mini excavators, which are smoother, quieter, easier to operate and more comfortable 1 . 5 tonne machines. It also includes four micro excavators - machines that can carry out heavy-duty tasks while being able to fit through a standard 762mm ( 2' 6") doorway.
