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    • Rermag Com Sites Rermag com Files Uploads 2013 05 European Award Winners
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    Boels Rental, Dan Kaplan Top List of ERA Awards Recipients

    May 22, 2013
    The European Rental Association gave its lifetime achievement award to U.S.
    Rermag Com Sites Rermag com Files Uploads 2013 05 European Award Winners

    Showing off their awards in Paris are, back row from left: Neil Strothard of VP; James Buckland, Off Grid Energy; and Phil Halcrow, Off Grid Energy; Middle row: Pierre Boels, Boels Rental; Ronan Cotter, Dromad Hire; Front Row: Dan Kaplan and Seamus Byrne, Dromad Hire. Photo provided by International Rental News.

    The European Rental Association gave its lifetime achievement award to U.S. rental consultant and former HERC president Dan Kaplan at the ERA convention in Paris last week. ERA gave the Large Rental Company of the Year award to Netherlands-based Boels Rental and the Small Rental Company award to Ireland’s Dromad Hire.

    The Rental Person of the Year award for 2012 was given to VP plc group managing director Neil Stothard. The Rental Product of the Year was given to U.K.-based Off Grid Energy for its Grid to Go hybrid generator.

    The awards were organized by the European Rental Association and International Rental News magazine. They were presented at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile Hotel, with an audience of about 300 rental managers and equipment manufacturer personnel.

    The judges said of honoree Boels Rental: “2012 was a very successful year for one of Europe’s most innovative and entrepreneurial companies. Investing at a time when others are being cautious and grasping opportunities where it sees them, including acquisitions, Greenfield openings and development of its in-store DIY network.”

    The judges said of Kaplan that he has helped rental companies all over the world. “Small and large, in developed and developing markets, helping them with their strategies and performing operational reviews of more than 2,000 rental locations. His book, Service Success, published in 1994, has become a bible for anyone interested in the rental business. His expertise has long been recognized in the industry.” Kaplan is also an inductee into the American Rental Association’s Hall of Fame.

    Of Dromad Hire, the judges said the company is not a ‘wait and see’ firm. “In an extremely difficult market, they remained positive and looked for solutions. They found new markets outside of construction, including a departure into renting fitness equipment.”

    Finalists for the Large Rental Company of the Year included Netherlands-based aerial rental specialist Riwal, and U.K.-based aerial company VP.