The distinctive blue and yellow livery of Nationwide's access equipment has become part of the landscape of the redevelopment of Birmingham's Bull Ring. The company is providing booms and scissor lifts to many of the contractors working on the mammoth task, and currently is being used by curtain walling, cladding and glazing contractors and steel and glass structure specialists completing the Debenhams' and Selfridges' store fronts.

A selection of Nationwide equipment is being utilised by Titchfield-based Welbro Construction Solutions Limited - with which Nationwide has a national agreement - and Space Decks Limited of Chard in Somerset. These include the JLG 800AJ boom, which is the only machine that offered Space Decks the required height, while being able to be positioned tight against the building façade. The diesel powered four-wheel-drive 800AJ provides the contractor with an unrivalled 26.38 metres maximum working height, a safe working load at this maximum elevation of 230kg, and an outreach of 15.74 metres.

Other Nationwide access equipment solutions currently being used on the sites include two diesel-powered Genie booms, the S-125 with a 39.9-metre working height and a 24.4-metre outreach, and the G-85 that provides a 27.9-metre working height and a horizontal reach of 23.4 metres. Nationwide's electric-powered Upright MX19 scissor lift is also being gainfully employed on the sites, thanks to its 7.8-metre working height.

All of the machines have been supplied by Nationwide's North Birmingham depot, one of 50 spread throughout the country that together have a fleet of over 6,000 units - more than twice as many as the nearest competitor. Work on the £500 million Bull Ring redevelopment, which was originally built in the 1960s, is due for completion ion the Spring of 2003.

Nationwide is part of the publicly-quoted Lavendon Group Plc and is headquartered in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. The Group is European market leader in the powered access rental market, trading under the name Zooom in Germany, France, Spain and Austria. Full details on the Nationwide offering of booms, scissor lifts and truck-mounted units can be found at www.nationwideaccess.com

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October 2002 Nat2.059a