Success at Vertikal Days demonstrates Hird value for customers

Across sales, hire and specialist services, Hird’s presence at Vertikal Days 2025 demonstrated the exceptional value the business can deliver for its customers.

The two stands Hird teams supported during the UK’s biggest lifting and access show enjoyed one of the company’s busiest ever two days during the event at Newark Showground on 10^th and 11^th September.

As well as welcoming visitors to a Hird and Hird Sales stand, the company also staffed a stand for Tadano, which now owns Valla Cranes and access platform manufacturer Oil&Steel.

Shared across the two stands were examples of the finest mini crane, glass lifting and powered access equipment available anywhere in Europe. No wonder it attracted so much positive attention!

Attractive combination for customers

Hird Managing Director Phil Hird said: “I think we can demonstrate, and it’s recognised by customers, that we have a strong mix of high-quality equipment, both in our sales portfolio and our hire fleets.

“We’re also seen as experts in our field, not least because we don’t just hire and sell equipment: we use it ourselves to deliver contract lifting and machinery moving services.

“That’s an attractive combination for our customers. All the equipment we offer is tried and tested. We also maintain and service it ourselves, and we’ve always wanted to deliver only good and fair service.”

Maximise productivity – control cost

On show at the Tadano stand, was the Valla V46R pick and carry crane and Oil&Steel’s Octoplus 17 spider lift.

Over at the Hird stand were two more Valla cranes, the Valla V180RC and the Valla 220SE, plus an Oil&Steel Octoplus 21 spider lift.

Heads were also turned by a display of market-leading Winlet glazing robots and Winlet ErgoMover electric materials trolleys.

Carl Cooper, Head of Sales and After-Sales at Hird Sales, said: “We’ve exhibited for many years at Vertikal Days. This year’s event generated even more interested.

“Buyers from contractors and hire companies are keen to maximise productivity and safety, both of which impress customers and control costs, which is why we think our stands were centres of attention.

“We were delighted to welcome visitors who knew we would be at Vertikal Days and came to us to see specific equipment. This was the case right across all brands we had on display.”

Valla cranes create big buzz

With two of the larger pick and carry cranes in the Valla range on show, perhaps it was no surprise Hird’s stand created a big buzz, attracting a lot of visitors.

The Valla V180RC is part of the V Series range of battery electric mini cranes available from Hird. It has a maximum safe working load (SWL) of 18t, a maximum working height of 12.5m, and a maximum radius of 8.1m.

As with all V Series cranes, the Valla 180RC can be operated with a wireless remote control. However, as the ‘C’ denotes, this crane also has a sit-in cab.

The Valla 220SE, which is also operated from a cab, is a designed slewing static crane based on outriggers combined with pick and carry duties.

With a maximum SWL of 22t, a maximum working height of 15.5m and a maximum radius of 13.5m, this particular model is exceptional for aircraft maintenance, MoD projects and clean-air facilities.

The Valla V46R – another mini crane in the V Series, which provides low noise, fume-free and low carbon footprint lifting, suitable for both indoor and outdoor projects – was equally popular on the Tadano stand.

Like all pick and carry cranes in the range, the Valla V46R is exceptionally compact. It is just 900mm wide and 1500m high, helped by it not having a cab. Yet it has a SWL of 4.6t and a maximum working height of 7.2m.

Product of the Month – Valla V36R pick and carry crane

Oil&Steel shows market-leading capabilities

The two Oil&Steel spider lifts on display demonstrated the company’s impressive ability to pack so many industry-leading features into its tracked platforms.

The Octoplus 17 on the Tadano stand, supported by Hird Sales, has a maximum working height of 17m and a maximum outreach of 7.6m, though is just 785mm wide when stowed for tracking.

The spider lift’s slighter bigger sister, the Octoplus 21, displayed on the Hird stand, allows operatives to work up to a height of 20.7m with an outreach stretching to 10.6m, yet is also just 785mm wide.

Safe and productive material lifting with Winlet

The impressive Winlet equipment on the Hird stand included a Winlet 785 glazing robot – the best in the business for safe and productive installation of sheet glass, with a maximum capacity of 785kg.

As the UK and Ireland authorised distributor for all Winlet products, Hird Sales can supply battery electric glazing robots with loads capacities from 350kg to 1000kg.

It also supplies Winlet electric materials trolleys, represented at Vertikal Days by the Winlet ErgoMover.

The all-terrain material trolleys are ideal for safely transporting materials weighing up to 1500kg in any working environment, including construction sites, factories and maintenance depots.