US trenching rental business NTS moves into UK

Houston, US-based National Trench Safety (NTS) is moving into the UK rental market for the first time and will open its first location on 1 June, managed by former VP plc and Mabey Hire executive Pat Flannery.

NTS operates one of the largest trenching and shoring rental businesses in the US, with 30 locations, and the UK operation is its first move outside of North America.

The manager of the UK operation, Pat Flannery, has been involved in the construction and hire markets for several decades. He spent almost six years with VP plc, culminating as general manager before leaving in 2008. VP is owner of Groundforce, the UK’s biggest shorting and trenching rental business.

After VP plc he was a director at Flannery Hire for four years before joining Mabey Hire in 2012 as Regional Sales Director.

“We are extremely excited to be announcing our plan to expand our footprint globally,” said Ron Chilton, President of NTS.

“Over the last decade, NTS has built a very strong brand name that resonates well with customers both domestically and globally.”

He said Mr Flannery was the ideal person to lead the company’s efforts in the UK; “Pat is a luminary in the British market. He has established key relationships with many of the largest contractors in the market and possesses a tremendous understanding of large, site specific excavation shoring and he has a tremendous amount of business experience in our industry.”

NTS said the first UK depot, which is understood to be in Leeds, will be followed by further locations both in the UK and the USA.

Mr Chilton said NTS’s offering would suit the UK market; “The shoring market in the United Kingdom is very mature, with a strong safety culture that we feel will respond well to some of our latest product advancements and our engineering expertise.”

Its rental fleet will include trench boxes, man hole boxes and large hydraulic braces. In addition, it will promote its Lite Guard aluminium trench shields and the SBH slide rail system, which features an internal hydraulic bracing system.