The hire of generators is well-established in the UK and reflects the need for temporary, emergency and back-up power in a wide range of applications, including those for both construction and non-construction use. The latter includes manufacturing, events sector and emergencies such as flooding.
Our definition of the generator hire market focuses on diesel generators. This report analyses market performance in recent years, but excludes ancillary products such as distribution boards, cable, cable ramps, transformers and fuel tanks). The generator hire market essentially comprises plant & hire companies, privately owned specialists and OEM dealerships (manufacturers with hire offering).
Generator hire is a competitive market, but benefits from the wide range of end-use applications and consequently the performance of the UK economy has a direct impact on the level of generator hire demand. Both construction and non-construction activity stimulate generator hire demand, with factors impacting on market development including construction and industrial performances, emergencies (such as flooding) and major events as well as ‘critical’ applications requiring back-up support.
The market has significantly been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and 2020 can essentially be characterised as pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19. The market declined abruptly in March 2020 as a national lockdown was imposed and most businesses found it difficult to continue operating.