Why It Makes More Sense To Hire Than To Buy Plant Equipment

If you are involved in the construction or agricultural industries, you may consider that owning your plant equipment is the best way forward. In many cases, that’s true: it means you have the right tools for the job available at any given time. It can also be a sign to stakeholders such as clients and investors that you’re a serious business that’s well established and active in your field. Plant machinery is also a business asset and as such, the depreciation can be written off against profits over time through capital allowances.

But what if it’s a piece of machinery you will only ever use infrequently? And do you have the resources to keep and maintain it properly over its lifespan? Here are a number of reasons why hiring equipment and machinery may make more business sense.

Financial Reasons

Clearly, it’s cheaper to hire a piece of machinery for a short period than it is to buy it outright – the less you are likely to use the plant, the more likely this is to be the case. Small companies especially will find there are significant advantages to hiring in terms of cash flow. And in terms of accounting, it’s worth noting that hiring equipment for your company’s purposes is 100% tax deductible, unlike buying the same equipment, where depreciation of an owned asset is not tax deductible in the same way.

Saving Time and Money

If you are just starting out in business or moving into a different line of work, you’re unlikely to know exactly what tools you’ll need for each particular job and which are the best manufacturers of plant equipment for your own requirements. Rather than spend time researching your options and risk making expensive mistakes, short term hire of equipment allows you to try various makes and models. If you plan to purchase machinery over the longer term, you’ll therefore be able to make a more informed decision on what’s right for your business.

In the meantime, you’ll save on storage costs. Machinery tends to be on the larger side and will need to be kept secure and protected from the elements when not in use. Hiring plant removes these worries, as well as the cost of insurance.

A further saving can be made when you consider the time taken to maintain machinery to a good standard, both to keep it performing as well as it should and to extend its lifespan. Hired equipment will come fully maintained by the leasing company, so you won’t have to worry about keeping to a maintenance schedule.

A Higher Spec All Round

Unless you have a fortune to spend, any machinery you hire is likely to be of a higher specification than your company could afford. Hiring companies look for the best when purchasing their stock, as they understand these items will see heavy wear and tear. And that higher specification will pay off if you source your machinery from a plant hire specialist – because it means you’ll be able to carry out projects faster and more efficiently, saving you money in the longer term and improving your business’ reputation.

At H J Kirk & Co, we’re a specialist plant hire company for the agricultural and construction industries. As well as skid steer loader hires, digger hire and water tanker hire, all of various specifications from the best names in the industry, we also offer Bobcat repairs and Bobcat service, alongside shot blasting, throughout the Shropshire area.