Speedy Hire agrees deal to create hydrogen-powered access platform

Speedy Hire has struck a partnership with Niftylift to develop the world’s first ever hydrogen-electric powered access platform.

The rental equipment firm said the deal will help the infrastructure, construction, and other related industries come closer to achieving net zero emissions whilst remaining ‘commercially sustainable.’

Under the three-year arrangement, Niftylift will exclusively supply Speedy Hire with zero-emission lifts, as well as some hybrid-powered access platforms, designed and built at its facility in Milton Keynes.

Speedy Hire said the platforms are the ‘first viable alternative’ to diesel-powered machinery and do not require on-site power infrastructure to charge batteries.

In addition, the company claims they are quieter, have faster refuelling times, can operate for up to five days on a single charge, be used indoors, and will lower transport costs due to their weight.

The first hydrogen-generated access platform is planned to roll off Niftylift’s assembly line and be delivered to Speedy Hire later this month.

Dan Evans, chief executive at Speedy Hire, said: ‘This world-first technology is a game changer for UK construction companies, enabling them to start using equipment powered by a zero-emission fuel such as hydrogen.

‘Our investment into this partnership with Niftylift enables us to accelerate the sustainable and technological evolution of the sectors we operate in and supports our ambitious plan to become a net zero business by 2040.’

Based in Merseyside, the group leases a vast range of tools and equipment, such as crowd control barriers, hydraulic breakers, generators, and crane forks.

Among the large-scale UK infrastructure projects it has worked on include the Thames Tideway tunnel, Crossrail, and the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.

It has gradually built up its offering of sustainable products in recent years amidst a rising need to decarbonise the built environment, which is responsible for a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a House of Commons report.

For the last financial year, ‘eco products’ provided just over half of the company’s £440.6million turnover, although its profits plunged by more than 90 per cent after an inventory check uncovered just over £20million of missing goods.

It claimed the problem was due to improper ‘controls and accounting procedures’ over many years and not because of ‘underlying systemic fraud.’

Speedy Hire shares were 1.8 per cent lower at 35.55p on early Tuesday afternoon, meaning their value has contracted by around 10 per cent since the start of the year.