Plant hire

Equipment rental, also called plant hire in some countries (in the UK for instance), is a service industry providing machinery, equipment and tools of all kinds and sizes (from earthmoving and power generation to hand-held tools) for a limited period of time to final users, mainly to construction contractors but also to industry and individual consumers.

The equipment rental industry is a relatively new industry, which first developed in Anglo-Saxon countries. The American Rental Association was founded as early as 1955, and first waves of consolidation took place in the 1970s in North America, leading to the creation of companies with nationwide operations.

From the 1980s in Europe, the industry has moved from family-owned small businesses to the creation of a number of international groups, some of which have an annual turnover in excess of €1 billion. 40 of the 100 largest equipment rental companies in the world are European. However, the large majority of companies in the industry still have fewer than 5 employees. Concentration in the industry is expected to renew at a fast pace, following a pause started in 2008–2009 as a consequence of the international credit crunch.

The situation of the equipment rental industry in Europe still varies largely from one country to another, with some markets more than others. Equipment rental penetration is lowest in Italy, Spain and Poland and highest in the UK and Nordic Countries. The potential for growth is still important in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, where some countries saw double-digit growth rates for rental in recent boom years.

The main reasons for the industry's overall fast development are:

The European Rental Association (ERA) has published a manifesto for the promotion of the sustainable benefits of the rental concept. The motivation for the manifesto comes from the five principles used in the rental business:

In 2016, the ERA published the ERA Market Report, based on research carried out in 15 countries (Austria, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK). According to this study, and previous research on countries not included in the study, the total size of the European equipment rental market (without operators) was €25 billion in 2016. In the 15 countries surveyed, 15,500 companies were active in rental in 2016 and they collectively employed 120,000 people.

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