Speedy (Hire) Plc is a leading provider of equipment and support services to the construction, manufacturing, industrial, rail and related industries. Since its foundation in 1977, the Company has grown to a £350 million organisation with more than 100,000 customers, 4000 employees and a national network of 325 depots.
Since its inception, the Company has engendered a significant track record of leading the hire industry in the UK with its contribution to safety and more recently the environment. In fact it is just in the middle of launching a new programme called ‘One Plan’ which demonstrates its commitment to responsible and sustainable business.
Shelley Kemp, Head of Brand Marketing, explains, “For Speedy, sustainability is not just about the environment. It covers everything that a business needs to focus on in order to survive and thrive in the long term; so to truly be a sustainable business you need to look at your employees and ensuring that they have the right skills for the future, that you attract the best candidates to work for you in the future by being an attractive company and one that people want to work for.” “Also it is maintaining the safety of your employees and your customers, which is why we see safety as a key element of sustainability in the hire industry. Of course then it is also about minimising environmental input, both in terms of our own operations but also we feel as the market leader in the UK we have a responsibility to help our customers. We do this by offering free of charge education and awareness toolbox talks on safety and environmental issues, which are delivered at site level to our customers if they wish. It is aimed to educate them about the importance of safe and responsible practices on site and gives practical advice for how they can change their behaviour to make a real difference and avoid situations that may cause them harm or have a negative impact on the environment.”
A wide range of initiatives have been introduced internally including the ‘Star Car’ initiative whereby company car drivers receive a cash incentive for selecting the most environmentally friendly models. DMR (dry material recycling) bins have been introduced at each depot and Speedy are this year launching a Sustainability Award for employees for the best initiative introduced by an employee.
For customers, Speedy has introduced the GO (Green Option) Product Range, highlighting which are the most environmentally friendly options balanced against the total hire and running costs. In other words, a green model might be more expensive to hire but its running cost, i.e. fuel, may be significantly less.
Another programme aimed at engaging with suppliers is the Supplier Charter which has a section outlining what we expect from all suppliers to Speedy in respect of sustainability. As part of this, Speedy has now launched a Supplier Excellence programme aimed at producing workshops on sustainability, energy reduction, demonstrating best practice, working with other suppliers, packaging etc.
Shelley concludes, “We feel that we have led the market in sustainability with our multi-award winning programmes ‘Safety from the Ground Up’ and ‘Getting Greener from the Ground Up’ and the introduction of our “green” product range which we call the ‘GO’ (Green Options) range. We feel that sustainability is a big subject and we have a large programme of activity underway within the business to ensure that we retain our position as market leaders, not just in sales but more importantly in protecting the environment, our employees, our communities and our customers.”
For further information please telephone 0845 601 5129 or visit http://www.speedyservices.com
