Jewson sells tool hire depots

DIY accounts for about 10% of Speedy Hire's business

Equipment leasing firm Speedy Hire has bought the tool hire depots of DIY chain Jewson for £13.5m in cash.

But Speedy Hire has not bought "the Jewson lot".

The DIY store, with its well-known slogan, will continue to exist, as a part of French firm St Gobain.

Speedy Hire is taking over 37 specialist depots that hire out tools, mostly to the building trade rather than home improvement enthusiasts.

The acquisition will take Speedy Hire "very near to the number one" slot in the tool hire business, with 250 outlets, chief executive John Brown told BBC News Online.

The Jewson depots are expected to add about £15m, or 10%, to Speedy Hire's turnover in the next financial year, he said.

Nor is he concerned that a slowdown in house price rises will damage the firm's prospects.

'Bright future'

Speedy Hire aims mostly at the construction industry and is confident of plenty of business from the government's spending plans for hospitals and schools.

Hospitals and schools are "brilliant because they have a lot of finishing on them", perfect for the small tools Speedy Hires specialises in hiring out to big builders, Mr Brown said.

"All the builders that we speak to have got record order books at present", he said.

"I don't think there's any danger that we won't be able to carry on expanding."