New app startup Shareplant has launched, allowing users to rent a wide range of construction equipment and tools directly from owners.
The startup allows the owners of plant and tools to earn extra money when the equipment is not in use, offsetting the running costs during downtime and gaps between jobs.
Shareplant already hosts hundreds of pieces of equipment for hire on its online rental marketplace, covering locations including Birmingham, London, Newcastle, Manchester – and the company’s home county of Cumbria.
The service is available online as well as via an app, available for iPhone and Android devices. Plant owners can list their equipment for free, receive a free one-on-one consultation to learn how to get the most out of the service, and use the rental calculator to estimate the potential income.
On average, construction equipment is used for only 50 to 80 per cent of its potential working time, meaning it remains idle for 30-60 hours every week (assuming 24/7 availability). With equipment expected to lose up to 60 per cent of its value to depreciation in just three years, this idle time is a wasted opportunity to offset depreciation and running costs and to add another revenue stream to construction businesses.
Shareplant has also launched Shareplant Toolbox, a monthly subscription service providing construction companies with a paperless suite of software tools to help easily manage multiple aspects of their construction business from desktop computer, tablet and smartphone. It includes tools to deal with timebooking, site safety, equipment inspections, maintenance and defects and workforce training and administration.
Mark Watters, founder of Shareplant, said: “There are incredible gains to be made in bringing innovation and the sharing economy to the construction and plant hire industry. We’re proud to be launching an easy-to-use service allowing our users to make productive and profitable use of equipment that would otherwise be sitting idle while losing value through depreciation – and providing a single, easy to use place for everything users need when hiring equipment. Between our rental marketplace and our Shareplant Toolbox, users will find renting out, hiring in and maintaining construction equipment and general construction administration a much easier experience.”
