ERA Convention shines a light on ‘Investing in People’

ERA President and Managing Director of Loxam Group, Stéphane Henon. (Photo: Maurice Vinken / www.kleurstof.eu)

On 7 and 8 June, the European Rental Association (ERA) welcomed over 350 leading figures from 24 countries to Maastricht, the Netherlands, to the 17th annual ERA Convention to network, learn and share.

The focus at the Convention this year was on attracting, developing and retaining people in the industry.

The excellence, creativity and innovation of the industry were also celebrated again with the European Rental Awards.

This year also saw the return of the International Rental Exhibition and APEX 2023 after 6 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opening the Convention, ERA President and Managing Director of Loxam Group, Stéphane Henon, said; “The rental industry is, above all, a people industry. Without our people, we wouldn’t deliver any services to our customers and we wouldn’t be able to continue to thrive as an industry, as we currently are despite the war in Ukraine, global supply chain disruptions and high inflation.

“The challenges of attracting, recruiting and retaining people are common to us all, and this is why the topic of our Convention is ‘Investing in People’.”

Over the course of the two days, professionally moderated by Dutch journalist Maarten Bouwhuis, the Convention addressed skill and labour shortages, the status of the workforce in the rental industry, ‘Careers in Hire’, diversity and inclusion, and the barriers to women in organisations, as well as how to thrive in an inflationary economy and the latest market forecast.

The workshops on the second day enabled the participants to exchange views on the attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing people.

The Convention closed with a provocative presentation from international talent acquisition and recruitment specialist Nicklas Pyrdol on ‘Bringing your Attraction and Retention into 2023.’

Pyrdol explained how organisations can develop a more inclusive definition of talent and empower ‎HR ‎professionals to be the best possible support for employees and for themselves‎.

Celebrating success

Companies from Finland and Belgium took home the rental company of the year awards, with Renta Group winning the Large Rental Company of the Year Award for recording remarkable growth despite the many business challenges of 2022.

Key-Tec won the Small and Medium Sized Rental Company of the Year Award for successfully carving out a niche by renting larger, technically complex machines and offering specialist knowledge and services.

Boels Rental were double winners, sharing the ERA Sustainability Committee Award: Best Initiative in People with Zeppelin Rental and winning the ERA/IRN Rental Person of the Year Award with Chief Procurement Officer Guy Cremer being recognised for his influential role in the switch towards lower carbon emission equipment last year.

OEMs Skyjack and Hilti were rewarded for their contributions to the rental industry, with Skyjack winning the ERA Technical Committee Award: Best Training Materials Adapted for Rental for their genuine commitment to providing clear training materials for their rental customers and Hilti winning the Rental Product of the Year Award for their Nuron range as part of their vision for a completely cordless jobsite.

CGT Edilizia Managing Director Max Rossi rounded off the night with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his successful, knowledgeable and unassuming presence in the rental industry over many years.

Thank you to all the sponsors of the ERA Convention and the European Rental Awards, and to the exhibitors of the International Rental Exhibition (IRE) and APEX, which took place from 6 to 8 June in the same venue.

The pictures from the event and the presentations are available on the ERA website, https://erarental.org/event/era-convention-2023/.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Maastricht for making it a memorable occasion. We look forward to seeing you again at the next ERA Convention on 15 and 16 May 2024 in Lisbon.