30.07.2018

New UK access rental company

Vincent Rourke, previously head of sales at the OneCall division of HSS Hire, has opened a new access rental company, Aspire Platforms, based in Leigh, north west England.

Although the company has only been operational for a few weeks, its fleet already includes 60 machines, all of them electric powered, including mast booms from Manitou and Skyjack slab scissor lifts ranging from eight to 14 metres. Fleet utilisation is already running at an average of 50 percent, and Rourke is hoping to add a few more machines later in the year, possibly adding a few larger machines.
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Two of Aspire Platform's new Skyjack slab scissor lifts

Rourke, who is only 28 years old, began his career as an apprentice joiner in 2005, before moving into property management two years later as manager of Rent-4U. In 2013, he was recommended by a friend to apply for a sales team leader position at HSS Hire. His application was successful and he went on to become area sales manager for the UK Platforms division in 2016, before moving to the OneCall division a year later, taking on positions such as key accounts manager, sales manager and then head of sales.

Having saved a decent amount of ‘seed capital’ he began Aspire Platforms with the support of an old business partner, with the two of them sharing the ownership 50/50, but with Rourke running the company as managing director.
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Vincent Rourke, managing director of Aspire Platforms

Rourke said: “I’ve always wanted to run my own business, and the time I enjoyed at HSS Hire encouraged me to start one in the access industry. ‘Aspire’ means to lift up, and I want the company to be up there with the national companies. Our location in Leigh, Manchester is also ideally placed to serve customers around the UK.”