Lavendon to close depots

The Lavendon Group has announced a major restructuring programme of its German access equipment hire operation, resulting in the closure of 24 depots and 100 redundancies.
The company said its operations in Germany and Austria were being slimmed down due to weak levels of demand and revenues declining in the year to date by around 9% against 2003.
Meanwhile, the German and Austrian access rental fleet will be trimmed by 1,250 units.
Lavendon chief executive Kevin Appleton said the reduction would be achieved by transferring around 400 units to other countries, with the balance of 850 machines - mostly scissor lifts - being placed in storage and sold in a controlled manner.
"Most of the units will be going to France where our business is expanding, however our Nationwide Access business in the UK will absorb about 90 machines," Appleton said.
Despite difficulties on the continent, the group has reduced its overall debt. Appleton expects a debt reduction of around £19m since the previous year-end.
The UK access market has remained flat due to a slow warehouse and retail construction sector. However, the company said UK revenues were up 2.5% for the first 11 months of 2004.
"Our results are improving and we are confident of improving our UK market share," Appleton said.