inspHire: rental software experts

VHS Plant Hire

Background

VHS Plant Hire is a friendly family business, trading for the last 40 years.

Together with VHS Hire Store they hire an extensive range of non-operated plant, small tools and equipment to construction and civil engineering contractors, local trades people and the DIY market.

The Issue

Prior to using inspHire, all of VHS bookkeeping and plant records were handwritten, with the exception of a couple of Excel spreadsheets. A card index box and a board on the wall were also used to record details of each machine in their hire fleet and to show the location of each plant item currently on hire.

“Once we had decided to bring our systems into the 20th century, we bought a hire software package, but unfortunately, after we had purchased the software and loaded it onto our computer the company went into liquidation."

After its bad experience, VHS Plant Hire was rather more cautious when selecting a new software supplier. They wanted a reliable provider who would be around for the long term, preferably with a good support package, and since they were inexperienced in the use of hire software, required a company that could provide them with the necessary training and guidance.

“We became aware that a couple of local hire companies were successfully using inspHire, so a group of us travelled to Nottingham and spent a day in the training room to get an idea of how the system would work for VHS. We were impressed by the functionality of the software and the availability of a good support package.”

The Solution

VHS Plant Hire selected inspHire Office Edition.

“The implementation of the system was painless and inspHire was linked to our new Sage bookkeeping program without a problem. The facilities at the inspHire training room in Nottingham were very good and the training covered all the basic information needed to operate the software. Any other queries which arose when we were back at the office were dealt with by inspHire support staff who are always very helpful.”

With inspHire our invoices now look much more professional than the old ones, which used to be typed by hand. In addition, the invoices can be posted directly from inspHire into Sage, without the need for manual data entry – thus reducing keying errors and saving time. The fixed asset register facility is excellent, since it automatically calculates the depreciation for each plant item and this information can then be posted directly into Sage.

inspHire has definitely speeded up our invoicing process, enabling us to complete end of the month invoicing and statements in approximately two days. Also, it is very easy to produce copy invoices and email them straight to the customer when dealing with account queries – this certainly beats searching through old invoice files in the storeroom!

Our customers like the fact that we can email them weekly with the  “What’s out Where” reports to help them monitor what machines they have on hire from us.
After several years using the inspHire hire management program we are convinced we made the right choice, in fact we are just about to upgrade to SQL in order to take advantage of the enhanced facilities this offers.”

Jo Woodall, Company Secretary, VHS Plant Hire