The History of One Stop Hire isn’t shy of growth, in fact in our 14 years, we’ve exceeded all expectations and continued to grow to the point of national coverage. It all started with Steve Hitchen’s dream of owning and running his own business.
For some background, Steve started at Fairclough Construction as a Hire Controller in the Plant & Transport Dept in 1983. He moved to tool hire in 1986 as the Hire Desk Manager for Power Supply Ltd in Salford. In 1993 he moved to Ainscough Crane Hire to work for his “in laws to be” and worked 16 years in the business and became a Board Director in 2005. When Ainscough Crane Hire was sold in 2007, Steve left to pursue his dream of running his own business which kicked off One Stop Hire in 2009.
Danni Hitchen went to work in her fathers & uncles business (Ainscough Crane Hire) straight from school, where she worked all her career until it sold in 2007. She started in an accounts role and finished as Marketing Manager. When One Stop Hire was formed in 2009 she joined the board and continues to be involved to this day.
In 2020, Steve and Danni’s son Henry Hitchen left school and started as a Business Apprentice at One Stop Hire. He completed his apprenticeship in 2022 where he gained a triple distinction award in Business Administration. His learning of the business continues as he gets experience in all the various departments and divisions that the company offers.
The History of One Stop Hire – Our Timeline
2009 – SJS & PSL
To kick off the History of One Stop Hire.
After exiting Ainscough Crane Hire in May 2009, Steve and Danni Hitchen set about searching for a business to acquire focusing on HIRE as that was what they had always done.
SJS Hire Tools from Wrightington was introduced to them soon after and a deal was done to complete the sale in early October. As this was happening, Steve was advised that his old employer Power Supply Ltd (PSL) had gone into administration which was another opportunity and a deal was done to buy this company. Within 7 days of each other the deals were complete.
Danni had been involved with her father on a project in 2005 to create an online Plant Hire platform which they named One Stop Hire.com. It was parked up when Ainscough sold but the domain and company registration was all set to go so decided that they would be the name of the new business.
2010 – Widnes Depot Opens
After closing 2 depots that were overlapping, the doors to the Widnes were opened. This was a decision made to balance out the regional coverage and it was their first green field site project.
2012 – Cumbria Depot Opens & Central Hire Desk Created
In 2012, One Stop Hire won it’s first significant contract and part of the deal was to open a Cumbria Branch for work within the area.
The Central Hire Desk was created with 2 of our best Hire Managers to manage the contract in Cumbria. This was an opportunity to provide other regional customers with a “One Call” option for placing orders.
2013 – WHS Training Acquired & One Stop Direct Created
In 2013, WHS Training was acquired which was a small Safety Training business. This was acquired from a customer of ours, this was to start offering IPAF, PASMA and many other construction related safety and compliance courses. One Stop Safety Training now has a turnover in excess of £1.5m.
During this year, we also set up our sales department One Stop Direct as lots of our customers were buying lots of tools & equipment. It made sense for us to sell as well as hire to them and further enhance the “One Stop” brand offering. One Stop Direct now turns over in excess of £2m.
2014 – B&W Tool Hire Acquired
During this year, B&W Tool Hire was acquired, this gave us a lot of new customers across the Northwest Region.
2015 – Leeds Depot
Leeds Depot opens in lieu of lots of customers asking if we could supply the West Yorkshire area.
2016 – Wythenshawe Depot Opens
Our Central Manchester Depot was getting overwhelmed with work and on the back of the new Manchester Airport expansion started, we made the decision to grow within the area and Wythenshawe depot was opened.
2017 – Multiserve Ltd Acquired
In 2017 Multiserve Ltd was acquired which was a Non-Mech company based in Liverpool. As we had very little yard space or HGV transport we had always re-hired our Non-Mech equipment in.
We primarily used Multiserve Ltd and when the owner asked if we would like to buy the business as he wanted to expand his utility business, we did this . It was then relocated to Leyland and now our Non-Mech Division has a revenue of close to £2m.
2018 – Trafford Park Depot Opens & Merseyside Plant Hire Acquired
The decision to open the depot within the area was due to the boom in building in Manchester City Centre and surrounding areas.
Merseyside Plant Hire was acquired in the Wirral and we relocated this into a large depot in Bromborough. The Widnes depot was merged into the Wirral area as it was getting very busy.
2019 – Birmingham & Newton-le-Willows Depots Opens
Through demand growing in Cheshire, Stoke and Crewe areas and many customers now working in the West Midlands area, the decision was made to open the Birmingham depot.
Our new Non-Mech business was growing rapidly and we relocated this to a 2 acre site in Newton-le-Willows which was a perfect logistical fit.
2020 – Lifting Division Created & Wigan and Leeds Hire Depots Relocated
Our Lifting Division was created to accompany demand from customers, this was to further solidify the brand and provide much more hire opportunity.
Wigan & Leeds Hire depots were relocated to much bigger premises with bigger yard space, warehouse space which also housed training rooms for One Stop Safety Training.
One Stop Hire wins Passionate Hirer of The Year award at the Executive Hire Show in Coventry just weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown came in.
2021 – Nottingham & Northampton Depots Open and Lord Hire Ltd Acquired
Nottingham & Northampton depots open to meet the demand of the Midlands growth.
Lord Hire Ltd in the North East was acquired adding 8 new depots to support the ever expanding coverage of the business. (Read More)
Additionally, we reached 200 employees spread across 4 regions of the country which prompted the decision of bringing outsourced areas such as HR, SHEQ & IT functions in-house.
2022 – Sunderland Super Centre Opens and Head Office Relocates
Sunderland Super Centre opens in the North East and is still our biggest property to this day. This serves a range of functions from Hire to Safety Training.
Our new Head Office opens, converting our old Head Office to a Training Centre and Training Head Office which covers a range of courses for the Safety Training team.
2023 – Directorate Restructure, Early Careers Academy Opens and London Depot Opens
2023 was a big year for One Stop Hire, Steve Hitchen becomes CEO to pursue opportunities for One Stop and guide the business more strategically.
Operations Director Keiron Power was promoted to Managing Director. Other positions were created to have a structure to manage what was almost a national business. All of these positions were filled internally with NO external recruitment.
Early Careers Academy opens in Wigan (Read More) to put young people through a Tool Hire bespoke mechanical apprenticeship. On a wider scale, we are employing more and more Trainees/Apprentices through the business in Hire, Accounts and Sales roles.
One Stop Hire is accepted in the 5% Club as a GOLD member (Read More). This is a prestigious club for companies who have over 5% of their staff in Trainee or Apprentice roles.
London Depot opens in Erith (Read More), East London bringing new business to the company and promoting growth within the south of England.