Plant hire in difficulties

Some 52% of UK plant hire companies are in financial difficulty, according to a survey of over 2,000 firms, carried out by business analyst Plimsoll Publishing.

This represents a worsening of the 47% reported last year. The Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis claims to cover around 25% of UK hirers.

Also highlighted in the report are sales growth figures at various turnover levels. Growth was 8.6% for companies with less than œ2 million turnover; 11.7% for those with turnover above œ15 million, strongest was growth of 13.2% for those with turnover between œ2 and œ5 million.

Average pre-tax profits across the industry were 4.8%, with the largest companies recording a 4.2% margin, but smaller companies did better with 5.9%. Alarmingly "around 16% of companies could not report any profit".

Of the 46 plant hire companies which have gone into liquidation or receivership over the past two years 44 were rated "caution" or "danger" by Plimsoll.