Express Hire (Dorset) is a well-established plant rental business serving customers across the south coast. Originally formed in 1990, by husband and wife team Judy and Martin Tollerfield, the business was purchased late in 2024 through a management buyout and is now owned by current directors Andy George and Gary Knight. The two had worked together in the past and decided that the time was right to push ahead with their own business.
“We quickly established a pattern of replacement for the fleet,” says Andy George. “In that first year we bought 37 Kubota 1.5-tonne mini excavators.”
The business, which has a fleet of more than 450 machines in total, then went on to take delivery of four Kubota U50-5 excavators in December 2025 and four KX085-5 8-tonners in January this year. A further 10 U17-5 minis and five U27-5s will join the fleet by the end of this month. And there is more to come.
The Kubota KX085-5 midi excavator is currently the company’s largest model, although it has access to crawler excavators up to 14-tonnes in operating weight through cooperation with another hire business.
Express Hire has also updated its telehandler fleet, added compact crushers to the line-up and increased its tracked carrier range. “We’ve got 43 telehandlers and we’re big on attachments for the excavators, offering more than just buckets and breakers,” George says.
This now includes powered attachments like flails and trenchers, that meet the needs of a wider customer base. Working from a head office site in Poole, Express Hire has its own delivery fleet and a team of in-house engineers to provide back-up. Customers range from weekend DIYers to major construction and civil engineering contractors.
“We’ve also got a good working relationship with all of the local builders’ merchants, who use us to provide a plant hire service to their customers,” he says. “We’ve got a good core of customers and we do a lot of business through the merchants.”
Gary Knight adds: “We have some longer-term hires too.” As a regional sponsor of AFC Bournemouth, the company has had a telehandler working with the football club for over a year. “We don’t like to go too far out of area though, as we can’t offer the level of back-up that our customers deserve.”
The company is aiming to replace the majority of its machinery on a rolling 4-5 year programme and the latest Kubota excavators are the first to bear a new graphic design livery that will be repeated across the fleet as new equipment arrives. Express Hire has also taken a novel approach to bucket supply with the excavators, having the buckets delivered in hard-wearing colours like red, orange and purple. Not only does this make it easier to find buckets on busy sites, but it fixes the company in the minds of customers.
“It is a bit of a statement, but everyone knows that they are our buckets,” Knight says.
Express Hire also has an innovative approach to customer communication. While all of the company’s hire operations are cloud-based, allowing access from remote locations, customers are included in a WhatsApp group that includes all the hire desk operators. This allows the customer to hire, off-hire or call for service when required directly.
As the company passes its first anniversary under new ownership, the two directors have a clear plan of future travel. At present there is no requirement for additional premises or depots, as there remains room for expansion in Poole. But there will be more new equipment coming though, as the fleet expands to offer a wider range of machinery.
