The HAE [Hire Association of Europe] has awarded Nationwide its coveted Best Hire and Rental Website award, beating off competition from throughout Europe. Now the company, Britain's market leader in powered access rental, has gone a step further by revamping its site to further boost customer interest in accessing information via the Internet and enhance it already enviable online business reputation.

A number of areas have been given special attention with the addition of several new interactive services. The introductory sequence has been updated by adding more detailed images of aerial work platforms and revitalised graphics have been incorporated on the site's home page. An online newsletter and brochures have also been added with the aim of keeping new and existing customers up-to-date on the latest additions to the hire fleet and services provided to customers.

The machine selector and the depot location functions have been upgraded to make them easier to use and more informative. The new machine selector allows customers to identify the most appropriate piece of equipment for a specific job from the company's 6,000 strong hire fleet. They can then use the depot location function on the website to find a map and directions to the nearest of the 50 Nationwide operations.

Following the HAE's award, Nichola Balmer, Nationwide's Marketing Director, says "We are naturally delighted that Nationwide's commitment to online trading has been acknowledged so publicly. The redesign we have just implemented has brought the business a step closer to the goal of providing our customers with a complete E-commerce solution."

The company has also been in the news recently following another verdict by the HAE when Nationwide achieved the industry's highest accolade, the National Hire Company of the Year award.

Nationwide is part of the publicly-quoted Lavendon Group Plc and is headquartered in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Its hire fleet is twice the size of its nearest UK competitor and all of the company's depots comply with Nationwide's ISO 9002 accreditation. The Group is also market leader in the European powered access market, trading under the name Zooom in Germany, France, Spain and Austria.

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June 2002 Nat2.034a