Nationwide, the UK's market leading powered access hire company, has been voted National Hire Company of the Year by the HAE - the Hire Association of Europe. It also won the Association's award for the Best Hire and Rental Website for its site at www.nationwideaccess.com.

The Awards of Excellence were made at the Association's recent annual National Hire & Rental Conference, which this year was held in Dublin. Commenting on Nationwide's achievements, John Coyne, Managing Director of the HAE, says: "The Hire Company of the Year Award of Excellence is, naturally, the HAE's premier accolade and so was much fought over. However, the judges felt that the honour should go to Nationwide as, in a very competitive marketplace, the company had sustained its expansion, both in the UK and Europe, while maintaining its commitment to improving safety Standards and training in the industry."

The awards were accepted by Nationwide's Group Sales and Marketing Director, Nichola Balmer, who commented at the ceremony: "It is one thing being the biggest powered access company in the UK, but from our customers' viewpoint, I am sure it is of equal importance to know that Nationwide is also the best." She continued: "We are particularly pleased that the judges recognised Nationwide's commitment to health and safety issues and training, both of which we will continue to focus on in 2002."

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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July 2002 Nat2.037a