Amplify Specialty

Our second actionable component is to amplify our Specialty businesses which focus on products with comparatively low rental penetration in predominantly non-construction markets.  These products are often a natural add-on to our General Tool products and services.  We are always looking for new rental opportunities and to expand the number of our Specialty businesses which in North America include:

• Power and HVAC; 
• Climate Control and Air Quality; 
• Scaffold Services; 
• Flooring Solutions; 
• Lighting, Grip & Lens; 
• Pump Solutions; 
• Industrial Tool; 
• Trench Safety;   
• Ground Protection; 
• Temporary Structures; and 
• Temporary Fencing. 

In North America we are investing in fleet to enable existing location growth as well as continuing our greenfield openings and bolt-on acquisitions.  We are scaling the less developed business lines and identifying and exploring and developing new white and grey space opportunities. Our acquisition of Modu-Loc, Canada’s leading temporary fencing provider created our eleventh Specialty business line in North America and we see significant opportunities to expand this business into the US.  

Our Specialty businesses are true specialisms with in-house experts in each business line with in-depth product and application knowledge, who enable us to provide the very best level of service to our customers.  

We are looking to grow our North American Specialty revenue to c. $2.4bn during Sunbelt 3.0 through our ambitious plans to drive rental penetration and increase our market share.  The strong growth in our existing Specialty businesses, combined with the contribution from our new businesses, Temporary Structures and Temporary Fencing, delivered Specialty revenue of $2.5bn in the year.  We have a broad-based team identifying new rental product ideas for both existing and new businesses, and a culture that encourages ideas at all levels of the organisation building entrepreneurialism with scale.  

In the UK we are making targeted fleet investment, accelerating Specialty growth through cross-selling and also identifying and developing new acquisition opportunities to enhance existing Specialty businesses.  In the UK we are seeing significant growth in cross referrals.