Steve & Danielle Hitchen – Steve started at Fairclough Construction as a Hire Controller in the Plant & Transport Dept in 1983. Moved into tool hire in 1986 as 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” & worked 16 years in the business making board director in 2005. The family sold the business in 2007 & in 2009 Steve left to pursue his dream of owning & running his own business.
Danni Hitchen went to work in her fathers & 2 uncles’ business Ainscough Crane Hire straight from school & worked there all her career until it sold in 2007. She started in an accounts role & finished as Marketing Manager. When One Stop Hire was formed in 2009 she joined the board & continues to be involved today.
In 2020 Steve & Danni`s son Henry left school & started as a Business Apprentice at One Stop Hire. He completed his apprenticeship in 2022 & gained a triple distinction award in Business Administration. His learning of the business continues as he gets experience in all the various departments & divisions of the company.
History of OSH
2009 – SJS & PSL
After exiting Ainscough Crane Hire in May 2009 Steve & Danni set about searching for a business to acquire focussing on HIRE as that was what they had always done. SJS Hire Tools from Wrightington was introduced to them soon after & a deal was done to complete the sale in early October. Just as this was happening Steve was advised that his old employer Power Supply Ltd (PSL) had gone into administration which was another opportunity & a deal was done to buy this company also & within 7 days of each other the deals were done. Danni suggested that the combined entity needed a re-brand & 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, company registration etc was all done so we decided that would be the name of our new business.
2010 – Widnes Depot Opens
Widnes – after closing 2 depots that were overlapping, we opened this depot to balance out the regional coverage & it was our first green field site project.
2012 – Cumbria depot & Central Hire desk created –
In this year we won our first significant contract & part of the deal was that we would open a Cumbria branch to cover the work in that area. We also set up our Central Hire Desk with 2 of our best Hire Managers to manage this contract & also give our other regional customers a “One Call” option for placing orders.
2013 – WHS Training Acquired & One Stop Direct Created
We acquired a small Safety Training business from a customer of ours & started to do IPAF, PASMA & many other construction related safety & compliance courses. One Stop Safety Training now has a turnover in excess of £1.5m. In this year we also set up our sales department One Stop Direct as lots of customers were buying lots of tools & equipment & it made sense for us to sell as well as hire to them & further enhance the ”One Stop” brand offering. One Stop Direct now turns over in excess of £2m.
2014 – B&W Tool Hire Acquired
B&W Tool Hire acquired from B&W Plant Hire which gave us a lot of new customers across the NW 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
Wythenshawe (South Manchester). Our Central Manchester depot was getting overwhelmed with work & on the back of the new Manchester Airport expansion starting we opened this depot.
2017 – Multiserve Ltd Acquired
Non-Mech company 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 & when the owner asked if we would like to buy the business as he wanted to expand his Utility business we did this & relocated it to Leyland. Non mech now has revenue of close to £2m.
2018 – Trafford Park Depot Opens & Merseyside Plant Hire Acquired
Trafford Park Depot Opens due to the boom in building in Manchester city centre & the surrounding area. Merseyside Plant Hire acquired on the Wirral & we relocated this into a large depot in Bromborough & merged the Widnes depot into it as the Wirral area was getting very busy.
2019 – Birmingham & Newton-le-Willows Depots Opens
Birmingham Depot opens through demand growing in Cheshire, Stoke & Crewe areas & many customers now working in the West Midlands area. Our new Non-Mech business was growing rapidly & 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 & both Wigan & Leeds Hire Depots were relocated to much bigger premises with bigger yard space, warehouse space & to house Training rooms. One Stop Hire wins the Passionate Hirer of the Year award at the Executive Hire Show in Coventry just weeks before the Covid 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 acquired with 8 depots.
2022 – Sunderland Super Centre Opens and Head Office Relocates
Sunderland Super Centre opens in the NE & is still our biggest property. Our new Head Office opens & Old HO converts to Training Centre & Training HO.
2023 – Directorate Restructure, Early Careers Academy Opens and London Depot Opens
Steve Hitchen becomes CEO to pursue opportunities for OSH & guide the business more strategically.
Operations Director Kieron Power promoted to MD & other positions created to have a structure to manage what was almost a national business. ALL positions filled internally with NO external recruitment.
Early Careers Academy opens in Wigan to put young people through a Tool Hire bespoke mechanical apprenticeship. On a wider scale we are employing more & more Trainee/Apprentices through the business in Hire, Accounts & Sales roles. OSH is accepted in the 5% club as a GOLD member. This is a prestigious club for companies who have over 5% of their staff in Trainee or Apprentice roles.
London Depot opens in Erith, East London.
Ongoing projects.
Staff – Retention, Engagement, Onboarding, Personal Development & Training. Steve Hitchen & HR building a platform for all our employees to thrive in & have an industry leading package of benefits & support.
Ensuring the new people joining the business understand & embrace our motto “The answers YES now what’s the question”.
Net Zero – working towards a 2030 deadline.
IMAGE – We must make sure our DEPOTS – PEOPLE – KIT – VEHICLES look the part & are in uniformity. We are in the TOP 20 Hire Companies in the UK & must look PREMIER LEAGUE not NON LEAGUE.
Future Opportunities
Midlands – scope to grow network & revenue.
Yorkshire – Further depot coverage needed.
London & South East – massive potential for more depots.
North East – lots more scope for revenue growth.
Lifting – Non-Mech Plant – One Stop Sales Direct – One Stop Safety Training – ALL have scope to grow.
Company Core Values
People Matter
Engaging with & treating our employees, customers & supply chain partners respectfully.
- Safety First
The safety & welfare of our colleagues, customers, suppliers & the public is our number one priority. - Environmental Awareness
Working towards net zero & investing in the future of our planet.
Company Mission Statement
To provide a tailored service which exceeds our client`s expectations & to be a supplier where the answer is always YES.
Our People – Our biggest success.
It has always been my belief that growing & developing your own staff from the bottom up is the basis for a great business. When I look at our management structure from the top down it gives me great pride to see that the vast majority have grown with the business.
Managing Director – In 2009 Kieron was the operations manager for the PSL business we acquired & he soon rose up to Operations Director & in April 2023 became our MD.
Finance Director – In 2009 we took in a young graduate from our accountants to fill in the gap of financial controller whilst we recruited. After 3 months John had settled in so well & demonstrated great ability that we negotiated for him to join us & he quickly rose to the position of FD.
Sales & Commercial Director – Darren joined us in 2010 on an interim role as BDM for our Lancashire area. Darren had worked with myself & Danielle at Ainscough & was an accomplished sales person. He enjoyed the Tool Hire sector so much he abandoned his Crane Hire opportunity & in no time became our Sales & Commercial Director.
Operations Director – David Chadwick joined us in 2013 & worked in various depots as a
relief Hire Controller. He progressed to depot manager & operations manager before taking the Operations Director role vacated by Kieron in April 2023.
Business Director – James joined us in 2010 as depot manager in our Preston depot. His hunger for knowledge & mastery of equipment, systems & processes saw him take charge of our SHEQ dept for a while before moving into a role developing our Hire System, Business intelligence development & drive for efficiency through technology. He became Business director in April 2023.
Below these guys we have so many other colleagues who have moved up from drivers to hire desk, from fitters to logistics & from depot managers to Heads of Departments.
Charity & Community Work
We are committed to giving back a portion of our profits to local causes. Our main support goes to Chorley Inspire Youth Zone that One Stop Hire is a founder patron of. This incredible facility has multiple activities for
young people & has a motto of “somewhere to go & something to do”. It is part of the national Onside charity organisation which builds Youth Zones in towns & cities with deprived areas.
Christies Charity Day
Lots of our staff are involved or participate in sport & we sponsor many youth football teams & attend & support many charity golf days every year. In 2022 we ran a charity football tournament with many of our customers submitting teams & we raised over £10k for the Christie Cancer charity which one of our oldest & biggest clients Seddon Construction Group supports incredibly well.
national@onestophire.com
0800 178 9800
