Friday Roundup: Irish merger | Zeppelin milestone | Stephenson expansion

Equipment rental companies the world over marked achievements and milestones during the week that was Sept. 5-11, 2024, highlighting both the industry’s current growth trajectory as well as its solid roots in the global communities it serves.

Starting in Ireland, two aerial platform companies, which are part of the UK’s Briggs Equipment group, have merged.

Aerial Platform Hire and Blulift are now operating under the Aerial Platform Hire trading name as part of the merger.

Aerial Platform Hire and Blulift are now operating under the Aerial Platform Hire trading name. The merger also sees Aerial assume control of all access hire contracts currently managed by Briggs across the Republic of Ireland.

This significant expansion for Aerial is part of Briggs Equipment’s long-term strategic plan to enhance its customer proposition across Ireland.

In North America, Stephenson Equipment (SEI) has acquired Valley Supply & Equipment, which operates in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

SEI is a supplier of construction, public works equipment and cranes across Pennsylvania and Upstate New York in the USA.

By expanding the company’s presence in the Mid-Atlantic region, Valley Supply’s customers will benefit from SEI’s inventory, rental fleet, parts and additional service technicians and product specialists.

In Europe, System Lift has announced a new member in Austria.

The Germany-based cooperative of rental companies has more than 70 members and has now added Kampel, a second-generation, family-run business, located in Bruck an der Leitha, about 30 kilometers southeast of Vienna.

The company was founded in 1990 and has been active in the rental business for over 30 years and is planning to grow its aerial platform rental fleet from 50 to 250 units, to complement its existing fleet of 30 cranes.

With a team of 85 employees in total, Kampel has premises of more than 55,000 square meters and covers the greater Vienna and lower Austria areas.

On the other side of the world there is celebration as India-based equipment rental company AGGCON Equipments International has been awarded the Excellence in Infrastructure Equipment Rental Services Award.

The company received the award from India’s Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari at the ABP Live India Infrastructure Conclave & Awards 2024.

The Rental Time reported that Jitender Aggarwal, chairman and managing director, dedicated the award to every member of AGGCON team, and to India’s equipment rental industry.

Back in Europe, there was also excitement as Germany-based equipment rental company Zeppelin Rental marked the 20th anniversary since it merged with MVS AG.

Germany-based Zeppelin Rental marked the 20th anniversary since it merged with MVS AG.

The company, a subsidiary of Zeppelin Group, was initially known as Zeppelin Mietservice, the first rental unit of Zeppelin Baumaschinen that started out renting Caterpillar construction machines. Then, after the company acquired MVS AG, it rebranded to become MVS Zeppelin GmbH & Co. KG in 2004.

The company celebrated the occasion with an event for its employees in Hamburg.