Over the last ten years, Watkins Hire Ltd has seen rapid growth and expansion and has established itself as a market leader in the rental of temporary temperature control solutions.

Due to this expansion we realised that many large and blue chip organisations were hiring equipment and using our services on a purely adhoc basis. It soon became apparent that these clients would greatly benefit from a more focused and bespoke personal service and hence our National Accounts division was established.

Since the formation of the Watkins Hire National Accounts division back in October of 2009, we have now negotiated and signed numerous supplier agreements with multi-located companies in business sectors that include, Facilities Management, Construction, I.T, Retail, Telecommunications and Financial and Commercial Institutions.

With the ever increasing pressures placed on Procurement Teams, Supply Chain Managers and Company Buyers to rationalise their supplier bases and make significant cost savings on the procurement of products and services, Watkins Hire can now further help by offering you benefits that include:-

• Preferential pricing in recognition of becoming a preferred supplier
• National Cover across England, Scotland and Wales.
• Priority response to all requests for emergency support and back up.
• Access to the UK's most diverse range of Temperature Control Hire units.
• Access to the UK's largest and most modern Hire Fleet.
• Uniform SLA's and KPI's across the UK, irrespective of whichever of our depots are supporting and delivering.
• Bespoke open book management reporting
• Single point contact for all communication.
• Retrospective rebate in recognition of the levels of spend.
• 24 / 7 Coverage, 365 Days a year.
• F.O.C. Site survey and equipment selection.
• We don't just offer the units; we can design, supply, install and commission all systems.
• Access to our industry unique Temperature Monitoring and Fault Reporting Telemetry.
• Full fuel management service with full telemetry ensuring you never

Watkins Hire has scored a major coup by recruiting Nick Campey from a rival firm to head up the firm's new National Accounts Division.

Nick begins his new role as national accounts director at Watkins Hire on 1 December, marking a major milestone in the company's continuing development as a key player in the Specialist HVAC hire sector. His remit is to establish the new division with consistent processes for handling larger, national clients and to build a National Accounts team, working closely with Watkins Hire's existing sales and service teams.

Nick Comments “Watkins Hire is a very dynamic business that has grown significantly over the past few years and already has a number of large, national clients. With the establishment of a national accounts division the firm is stepping things up a gear, ensuring that we are fully equipped to continue increasing our market share.”

Nick's appointment follows the announcement in October that Terry Stevens-Smith had left his national accounts manager role at a rival firm to take up a similar post at Watkins Hire. This established working partnership will now focus on increasing Watkins Hire's national accounts and adding value to the company’s existing clients, focusing in particular on the public sector, facilities management, IT and telecoms industries.

Mark Hills, managing director of Watkins Hire adds “This will not be the first time that Nick has set up a national accounts division from scratch. His talent and experience will ensure the new division is up and running quickly and smoothly and we're delighted to have him on the team.”

Does your company operate from Multiple Office locations and do you want a single point of contact for your entire specialist HVAC hire requirements? Our dedicated National Accounts team can help.

• National Accounts

Veterinary practice, Rainsbrook Veterinary Group, was faced with running its busy surgery without a domestic hot water supply for a week - until temporary heating and cooling rental equipment specialist, Watkins Hire, stepped in to offer the firm an instant hot water solution.

A new boiler system installed at the Rainsbrook Veterinary Group practice in Leamington Spa required some essential maintenance work and shutting it down for a week while the work was carried out was unavoidable. At first, the Rainsbrook Veterinary Group team thought that they would have shut the practice or be forced to boil kettles to comply with strict hygiene standards, but after contacting Watkins Hire they discovered that a much faster, more economical and more convenient solution was available instead.

Explains Stacey Hammond from Rainsbrook Veterinary Group Vets: “The loss of our hot water supply was a business critical issue for us as we need to be able to wash our hands thoroughly to maintain hygiene standards. When we contacted Watkins Hire they suggested their portable emergency hot water tank and we had hot running water with an hour of it arriving.”

Designed to provide a domestic hot water supply via simple connection to the cold water tap, the Watkins Hire portable emergency hot water tank resembles a yellow wheelie bin and is simply wheeled into place and plugged in to an ordinary 13 amp socket. The tank's 3kW immersion heater can then heat up to 55 litres of cold water to a temperature of 600°C within an hour at a cost of around 20p, providing ample, low cost hot water. The heated water then stays hot for up to 24 hours and even when it's unplugged heat loss from the unit is less than

Boiler Hire specialist, Watkins Hire, can now offer customers even more choice when specifying temporary heating and hot water solution following the launch of the ‘HeatGen 22’ 22kW portable electric heating and hot water boiler to the company’s extensive hire range.

Compact and easy to connect to existing pipework using flexible hoses, the Watkins Hire HeatGEN 22 can deliver 22kW LPHW (low pressure hot water) of heating and hot water from 35°C to 85°C. The unit features a distinctive integral plate heat exchanger which keeps the primary and secondary water circuits separate.  For the end user, this means that any contaminants in the water system that could affect performance are prevented from entering the unit, enhancing reliability.

“The HeatGEN 22 is an important addition to our range and is ideal for all kinds of applications from breakdowns and disaster recovery through to occupied refurbishments,” comments Rob Kemp of Watkins Hire. “The integral heat exchanger mounted on the unit makes it particularly suitable for sensitive underfloor heating systems, and the product is backed, as always, by Watkins Hire’s personal service. We believe that this is the only product of its kind on the market and therefore expect interest and sales to be extremely strong.”

Speed of installation is also a key benefit of the HeatGEN 22, enabling Watkins Hire to put a fast, fuss-free solution in place in any boiler breakdown situation. The unit has automatic air relief valves on the primary and secondary heating circuits for efficient air removal during commissioning. Another unique feature is an integral single phase power supply, which allows a secondary circulating pump to be connected to the unit without any additional wiring and the connection is fully electrically protected with RCD protection, enhancing health &

Temperature Control Hire specialist, Watkins Hire, has appointed Rob Kemp to the post of Specialist Hire Manager, Scotland, as part of the company's strategic expansion north of the border.

Rob Kemp joins Watkins Hire with more than 20 years experience gained with a competitor firm

Rob joins Watkins Hire with more than 20 years experience gained with a competitor firm and has been given a remit of growing the company's market share in Scotland, where Watkins Hire already has an established sales team. Amongst his first tasks will be to open Watkins' first ever depot in Falkirk, Scotland and his appointment is part of a major investment in the region, which also includes recruitment of further engineers to service Scottish customers.

Explains Watkins Hire managing director Mark Hills

“Our expansion in Scotland is part of a national strategic growth plan and Rob's appointment is central to building on our success in the region. He has an enviable track record in the specialist temperature control hire industry specilaising in chiller rental and hot water boiler hire and we are delighted to have attracted him to the company to take on this vital new role. His enthusiasm and knowledge will be a welcome addition to our existing resources north of the border, helping to underpin the service and expertise on which we have built our reputation.”

Rob will spearhead Watkins Hire sales, rental and customer service across the company's boiler rental, chiller hire, portable air conditioning hire and temporary heating portfolio and his remit includes serving existing customers as well as expanding the company's customer base in Scotland.

“I

Hot Water on Demand Portable Water Heater

Watkins Hire lauch an new Emergency hot water, the new Mobile 22kw HeatGEN electric boiler hire product from Watkins Boiler Hire. The small compact reliable and powerful portable electric boiler is capable of delivering 22kW LPHW (Low Pressure Hot Water) of hot water and heating which delivers large volumes of hot water on demand.

Andy Ellis Specialist Temperature Control Director said

“It’s the perfect Emergency hot water electric water boiler hire unit,my 1st project with this mobile electric boiler was to dry out several newly laid floor screeds on multiple floors for an NHS hospital refurbishment project in Charlton. They are ideal as they went in the lift and only a 32amp electrical supply was required, within minutes of arriving on site systems were installed and operational.”

New Mobile 22kw HeatGEN electric boiler specification

The New Mobile 22kw HeatGEN electric boiler is available for hire or sale.

Watkins Boiler Hire has introduced this small but ultra mobile electric boiler to their fleet of rental hotwater boilers due to customer demand when they need Emergency hot water.

The new Emergency hot water 22kw portable electric boiler was designed and built by Watkins Boiler hire and runs on three phase electricity and is perfect for projects that need smaller temporary heating boilers such as underfloor heating and screed drying projects, event heating, event catering & Emergency and Disaster Relief Portable water heating.

The Emergency hot water 22kw electric heating boiler rental unit has already been used for, Under-floor Heating projects and

I have been with Watkins Hire for approximately 6 weeks and have already observed that the temperature control equipment is of a very high standard with some extremely innovative additions which are an absolute asset to our customers. With a Fuel Tank Telemetry System that offers Trouble Free Fuel Management by E Mail or SMS, and a Wireless Remote Thermostat that is truly remote up to 200 meters being just a few.

The new Indirect Heater hire range has been designed to a very high specification with no expense spared meaning that when I make a statement to my customers I am confident that what turns up to site will “do exactly what it says on the tin” be it there is no tin in the construction of these units.

This combined with the opportunity to spend time with my customer and not aiming to achieve call rate targets has meant that all of my customers quickly realise they can call me at any time, knowing they will receive my undivided attention, a comprehensive and detailed survey followed by a very competitive quotation. Normally, if required the same day.

I have found a new lease of life that has greatly improved my health in the very short time I have been here. Watkins Hire Limited is an Employer who fully understands the nature of the business and allows the sales team freedom of movement along with the opportunity to develop both their customers and themselves.

The Sales Team is the most experienced, professional and time served group, each specialising in their own product ranges, I have ever worked with. This is just one of the many reasons I know I have made the right decision in joining Watkins Hire.

With the

After receiving a call at 12.30pm on a Friday afternoon from a contractor enquiring about emergency heating Watkins Hires Business Development Manager This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it arrived on site less than 1 hour later at a large superstore who’s heating system had broken down during refurbishment work, and if no solution could be found to heat the store that day then it would have to close costing the store significant amounts of lost income.

Jason was able to complete a free site survey and recommend our MH170 Mobile heater and 3000 litre fuel tank be used, a quotation was prepared and accepted whilst on site and people set to work to get the equipment to site and installed that evening.

IDF Heaters view from roof

MH170 heater at rear of store

600mm ducting taken to up to roof

80 metre ductwork run along roof

80 metre ductwork run along roof

Installation was not straight forward as the heat had to be ducted up the side of the store and along the roof of the building into the stores existing Air Handling unit heating system a total of approx 80 meters, this was done using Watkins Heater Hire high temperature ducting in 6 meter lengths which were coupled together then pulled up the side of the building and laid across the roof where temporary lighting had to be installed as it was well into the evening and was getting dark.

Watkins Hire were able to get heat into the store that evening only 7

Heating boiler hire project application

Building hand-over date falling behind due to high moisture content in the floor screed and associated slow drying caused by inclement weather conditions and building not being “air tight” resulting in ;-

1. Floor screed too wet to lay new vinyl flooring though out new building of 3,500 m².
2. Delay (by M & E Contractor) of newly installed boiler & heating services not ready in time to assist drying.

(The client previously used Aggreko with IDF heaters with lots of ducting throughout building “which were expensive and took a very long time”).

Application requirement

Dry floor screed to four designated “phases” of the building each at different times and speeds to be in line with estimated floor layers work.

The Solution

Supply  two Watkins Hire MBR 250kw mobile boilers & GSM monitored 3000-litre fuel tanks c/w pipe work and appropriate tee manifolds to the designated newly installed under floor heating system.

Following the recent inclement weather conditions, Watkins Hire Ltd were asked to provide a solution to a major national building contractors problem of appropriately drying out 3,500 m² of floor screed without causing any associated damage to the floor.

WHL past and current under floor heating projects offer their customers a “one stop” drying solution particularly where the new boiler plant has yet to be commissioned and newly laid flooring needs to be carefully dried.

Specialist hire director Andy Ellis visited the Basildon site and discussed the application with site Mangers Quantity Surveyor.

Andy's 23 year Temperature control hire application experience involving boilers and chillers helped advise the building contractors to utilise the existing under floor heating

Watkins Hire has supplied a packaged plant room to one of the North East's largest primary health care trusts. The trust had a building on one of their sites that had the onsite boilers fail. This left the administration staff of the hospital without any heat for the foreseeable future.

Watkins Hire specialist hire manager This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it carried out a detailed building survey, he looked at the situation on site including transport access, available space for siting equipment, site power conditions, routes for flexible heating pipework. Chris ran through the whole project before leaving site so that the maintenance manager had a plan of Watkins Boiler Hire solution.

A HeatGEN MBR250 Packaged heating boiler plant room was selected to match the heating demand required for the building demand and because the efficiency (92%) offered the trust a cost saving on the fuel and the super quiet sound level (45 Dba@10m) ensured no disturbance to patients or staff.

The Facilities Manager said “Watkins Hire were on site within 2 hours of us placing the enquiry, their specialist sales manager completed his survey and had a solution to our problem whilst still in our office. When all of the options were considered we made the decision to place the contract with Watkins Hire. The operation of the packaged plant room left us with no hesitation that this was the right piece of equipment for the job. Along with the equipment being available and Watkins Hire offering a Web based fuel management service, it leaves us with piece of mind that the staff will have no complaints about being cold.”

The next day the packaged plant room delivered by Watkins Hire own transport and the hire unit along with the bunded fuel tank was sited outside the building, the MBR250 has a

Watkins Hire installed a mobile 170kw chiller hire unit with 6 off 30kw internal air handlers as temperatures soared to 32° C in the process area.

Due to their recent expansion the food processing company was experiencing unacceptable temperatures in there process area, the addition of two new machines that were constantly generating heat had made working conditions very uncomfortable with temperatures soaring up to 32° C, the engineering manager advised our South Wales Sales Engineer Jason Campbell, he was looking for a solution to cool the processing area which now had four machines in constant use generating large amounts of heat and workers were threatening to down tools.

The Solution

They looked at many solutions, and had received quotations for both rental and sales options, Jason Campbell was cold calling in the area at the time and offered our Chiller hire services, After carrying out a site survey it was decided a 170kw chiller and 6 x 30kw air handling units were what was needed, a quotation was completed whilst still on site, the Chiller hire quotation was much more cost effective than the quotes supplied by our competitors, the quote was accepted and the brand new Trane Chiller hire and air handler hire equipment was installed and running the very next day to the delight of the workers and management.

Sales Engineer Jason Campbell said

“Installation was not straight forward as there was limited space in which to place the air handling units due to lifting equipment which needed to be used in the area, but after consulting with the workers suitable positions were found. Once the units were installed and running it reduced the temperature from 32 degrees to 22 degrees within hours which made the

Fuel Management services, Total Control, no effort, guaranteed fuel levels and supplies.

Watkins Hire are a temperature control rental company and after 149 years they continue to innovate, the latest innovation from Watkins Hire is a web based automated remote fuel level monitoring and fuel reordering system to guarantee your hired in plant never runs out of fuel again.

When a hire company offers fuel management this should not mean taking fuel readings and doing it all by yourself.

You can use our revolutionary web enabled fuel management system to ensure you never run out of fuel again www.remotefuel.com provides access to important hired in equipment fuel level data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, giving you access to critical information when you need it.

How much does this service cost?

The remote fuel management service is free and is fitted as standard to all FuekPAK tanks from 1000-litres to 6500-litres. Watkins Hire only charge for the fuel supplied and, because of the volume of fuel we purchase we can offer you cost-effective and competitive prices for fuel supply, and guarantee your hired in plant never runs out of fuel again.

Fuel Pricing?

We agree a price that reflects the current market fuel price when you take delivery of the hire equipment, we notify you prior to delivery of any changes in price prior to fuel delivery.

Why use Watkins Hire for fuel management?

• 30 day credit terms on all fuel supplies. (Fuel distributors normally ask for 7 to 14 days credit terms)
• Guaranteed never to run out of fuel
• Guaranteed never to over order
• Competitive pricing
• Web based login to view your fuel usage and levels 24/7

To get a login and use our fuel management system, contact us on

Watkins Hire Events are an events temperature control rental company after 149 years they continue to innovate, the latest innovation from Watkins Hire is their new BioDiesel site heater for carbon neutral temporary heating.

There's been a lot of talk about whether biodiesel is green or not recently. A lot of people have been understandably shocked to realise that not all biodiesels have credible green credentials. Sustainable Bio-diesel, which is derived from used cooking oil, is a sustainable, cleaner burning alternative to fossil-diesel. Watkins have developed the heater to help their clients minimise the impacts on the environment, they are the first heater hire company to develop a temporary site heater that operates on locally sourced 100% sustainable bio diesel manufactured to EN14214 standard.

The BioDiesel heater has several unique features and makes all other site heaters either redundant or very archaic and outdated.

A unique feature of the Watkins BioDiesel site heater it is the 1st site heater available in the European rental market to fully comply with all EU legislation for fuel storage and transportation, the heater comes with an incredible 1000-litre bunded fuel tank which is integral to the heater which provide the hirer with 54 hours of operation before refuelling is required. The site heater has been rigorously tested and is certified by UN to comply with ADR & PPG2 and PPG26 all this simply means the heater is the only heater available on the market that can be legally delivered to site full of fuel.

Caring about the environment is not just about using BioDiesel instead of fossil fuel diesel, or ensuring full compliance with fuel storage and transportation, Watkins have shown their true commitment to their clients and the environment by fitting the BioDiesel event heater with a time clock for unattended operation allowing timed starting and stopping

The hire sector is awash with companies claiming to be the biggest, most successful or fastest growing...... but only one can claim to be 150 years old: Watkins Hire celebrates its 150^th anniversary this year.

Founded in 1860, the year that Abraham Lincoln became President of the USA and Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville made the world's first ever sound recording, Watkins remains an independent family-owned business today. Originally established as an iron ore mining company, the firm originated the concept of steam and heating boiler hire and rented mobile steam boilers to the British military during both World War I and World War II. These days, Watkins Hire combines that heritage with a dynamic approach to remaining at the vanguard of the sector an now boasts a 7,000-strong fleet that encompasses every aspect of heating and cooling hire, from the heaviest steam boilers to the most portable and compact cooling units.

Comments managing director, Mark Hills: "Watkins has been an innovator throughout its 150-year h istory and we continue to drive innovation today, introducing groundbreaking developments, such as our GSM telemetry fuel management, fault reporting and temperature monitoring systems, to ensure we provide our customers with great service and reliable, technically advanced equipment. The world has changed dramatically since Watkins was first established 150 years ago but the company's values, emphasis on service and forward-thinking culture remain unchanged and we're looking forward to celebrating further milestones in the years to come."

Watkins Hire has grown significantly over the past 12 years, extending the fleet from just 70 to well over 7,000 pieces of equipment and keeping pace with new technology to ensure that it can offer the most energy efficient and effective equipment

Watkins Hire, is celebrating both its 'Sesquicentennial' (our 150^th Anniversary!) and adding the 12^th national accounts customer to its enviable client list – only some six months after establishing its National Accounts Division.

National Accounts Director, Nick Campey and Terry Stevens-Smith, National Accounts Manager established the National Accounts Division at Watkins Hire after moving to the company from a rival HVAC hire firm. With a 25-year track record in National Accounts. The strategic move has paid off, with the new division now turning over more than £1million across its dozen national accounts clients under contract across the construction, facilities management, M&E, HVAC and plant hire sectors.

One of the latest national account clients is Speedy and Watkins Hire has secured a sole supplier agreement to act as a strategic partner, providing additional Specialist HVAC Hire equipment to complement Speedy's own range.

Tom Gleeson, operations director of 'Managed Services' at Speedy said: “We were looking for a heating and cooling partner that had the experience and capability to support our customers operating on major industrial sized sites.

“Watkins Hire boosts Speedy's existing range of heating and cooling products to offer our customers a huge range of new and well maintained specialist HVAC equipment which is available for a wide spectrum of applications, serving everything from offices through to petrochemical sites.”

Watkins has leveraged the company's 150 years' experience and the expertise of its National Accounts team to achieve such rapid growth in its National Accounts Division and the company is now gearing up for further expansion.

We are continuously investing in new kit and adding the most technically advanced temporary heating and cooling solutions to our fleet. As a specialist we