CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2020 17 calling in just to say hello. Digitisation and e-commerce haven’t really taken root in the rental sector. It’s there but it’s in the background. I think the pandemic is going to change that as people want to remotely order equipment. The world has changed and it’s likely to have changed for the good in some ways,” Andy Wright added. Andy Burrows mentioned that Lynch Plant Hire has continued to invest in telematics systems and machine control equipment during the lockdown. He said: “We’ve been providing data analysis to our clients for some time now. Part of that is because we can make sites safer, plus we can make machines more efficient with less idling time. We are leading the way with this and it really is the future. Our customers are using fewer machines, they’re making sites safer, projects are becoming more cost- effective and we’re reducing our customers’ carbon footprint as we are delivering and collecting less equipment.” The event finished with questions from webinar attendees and CPA Chief Executive Kevin Minton invited the panellists to share their experiences of any positives that have come out of the pandemic. Andy Wright said: “Sunbelt Rentals was going through a major rebranding process. We launched our new strategy plan to 800 people in Manchester on 4th March and on 23rd March the country locked down. The whole point of our rebranding is what we call ‘Project Unify’ bringing together all of our various businesses. We have 23 different operating brands in our business and it’s now all Sunbelt Rentals with each of their specialisms. “As a business we’ve been fortunate to have been able to support the government as critical workers in helping build drive through testing stations for the NHS across the country. It brings a sense of pride to our business in terms of helping the UK in this particular time of need. I want to say a big thank you to our whole team and the sacrifices they made along the way. “The project meant that a number of our businesses had to operate as one installing drive through testing stations for the NHS - anything from a seven lane to a 17 lane drive through in a 12 hour period. It brought our whole business working as one. The crisis caused a situation where all the objectives of Project Unify suddenly came to life through the NHS testing stations project, so that in a sense has helped our rebranding process. It has brought the business much closer together,” Andy continued. Brian Stead commented: “We had some essential projects that forced people to come together and really drive the passion in helping their country. We already had wellness mechanisms in our organisation but the pandemic has delivered a step change in terms of communications, developing relationships and a recognition that it’s not just about driving efficiency. It’s about achieving that balance of wellness mentally and we’re resolved to continue that pace of change going forward. We’ve got a desire to stay connected and interact by whatever mechanisms are necessary.” Andy Burrows from Lynch Plant Hire commended the resilience of his colleagues: “We discovered that people are resilient and not only are they resilient, they are able to adapt very quickly. It’s difficult to go from working at your office, at your desk with your colleagues, to suddenly working from home with all the distractions that are there. We carried out some competitions with our employees all about wellbeing on Zoom to let them know we cared about them. I think some of the relationships although they were distant actually became closer.” We would like to thank Andy Wright, Brian Stead and Andy Burrows for their fabulous contribution to the webinar and we look forward to holding more events of this nature in the future. THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: 3