Shoppers at the recently completed town centre Brewery Shopping Centre in Romford, Essex got something of a shock when, overnight, a new sign appeared on one of the town's landmark structures. The 50-metre high chimney, focal point of the shopping centre development and a leftover from the days when the site was a Tetley brewery, was sporting a new Brewery sign that was erected by signage specialist, Active Signs, with the invaluable aid of a Nationwide Skylift truck-mounted boom.

In addition to having to ensure that its erectors had a safe working platform, Active Signs, which is based in Ramsgate and is one of the country's leading sign makers specialising in the retail sector, had to undertake the installation between 11.00pm and 7.00am the following morning. With such a tight time constraint, powered access was the only solution, and the company soon realised that a truck-mounted boom would offer the speed and manoeuvrability that would be essential for the task to be completed in just eight hours.

One of Nationwide's Bronto 72 HLA machines from the company's Skylift truck-mount range was chosen for the task. In addition to its impressive 72-metre working height, its outreach of more than 27.7 metres meant that it could effortlessly reach over the chimney's plinth. Its 1.25-metre by 2.2-metre working platform provided ample space for Active Sign's erectors and their tools.

Another consideration in favour of a truck-mounted solution was the machine's ability to be fully operational within minutes of arrival on site and then move quickly from one vantage point to another to give Active Sign's staff the best possible access to undertake the installation. This versatility was further boosted by the Bronto's ability to rotate its cage 45 degrees in either direction via fingertip controls located on the work platform.

The Skylift machine - which was by no means the first powered access solution the company has hired from Nationwide - came with a fully qualified, Nationwide-trained operator, whose experience in overcoming access problems made a significant contribution towards achieving the tight deadline.

Nationwide is headquartered in Lutterworth, Leicestershire and is the country's market leader in powered access rental with a hire fleet that is twice the size of its nearest competitor. It is part of the publicly-quoted Lavendon Group Plc, the European market leader in powered access, 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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November 2002 Nat2.066a