14.10.2008

Facelift joins Access Link and ..helps repair a church

Facelift, the Hickstead, UK, based access rental company, has joined the Access Link, the group of like minded independent regional companies that work together to provide their customers with a national service.

Facelift has seven locations on the south coast London, Birmingham and Liverpool and brings new locations to the Link as well as a range of speciality equipment, ranging from large truck mounts – the company has a 90 metre Bronto on order – to large atrium type boom lifts.
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Facelift's new 61 metre Bronto at work on Shrewsbury's St Chads

The company was recently called upon to assist with emergency repair work to the roof of Shrewsbury’s famous landmark St Chad’s Church. It selected its brand new 61 metre Bronto to take leadwork specialist Mark Bywater and Conservation Architect Tim Ratcliffe to the top of the spire for a major structural survey.

Click here to see BBC footage of the repair and an aerial view of Shropshire

The 200 year old Church requires repairs to the lead roof, Adrian Richards, chairman of the fabric committee at St Chad’s said: “On the tower of the church there are some large lead panels which weigh around 200 kilos each, it appears that these are partly torn away.”

“It’s either because the copper nails that secure it, or the timber underneath has rotted away and we have to make some emergency repairs because it’s dangerous. Whilst we’re doing it we’re going to assess how much other work needs to be carried out as the church is due for its ‘Quinquennial’ – five year - inspection. The committee have chosen to use a cherrypicker because it’s a third of the price of scaffolding.”

David Bowman of Facelift added: “The 61 metre was the most efficient way to carry out repairs to stabilise the roofs panels. Its generous 600kg working load and its ability to manoeuvre safely around the building made it a clear cut choice, and it didn’t disrupt from the churches day to day activities.”

Vertikal Comment

The Access Link has received a number of knocks over the past few years or so, as Lavendon and past member AFI snapped up one member after another. One of the greatest losses being Panther, which was not only the largest provider of re-hire work for members, but its owners Richard Miller and Brian Fleckney were driving forces in the management and development of the Link.

In the past year or so the membership has stabilised and a number of member owners, have become more active and helped step up the pace of development of the Link.

Bringing new members of Facelift’s calibre on board, with its highly active marketeer/MD, Gordon Leicester, can only help take the link to new heights. The organisation appears to be on a roll.