2023 – The equipment rental company of the year in Europe continues to be a trailblazer

By the time 2023 arrived, Renta had firmly established its position as a significant player in the Baltic Sea region.

In January, Andrew Studdert was appointed as the Chairman of the Renta Group’s board, having been part of the board since the previous April.

In March and April, announcements were made regarding acquisitions in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, further expanding Renta’s rental network.

In May 2023, Renta Group published its first sustainability report, which outlined the impact of Renta’s operations, its ESG strategy, and the ways in which Renta intends to fulfill its promise to become an industry leader in responsible equipment rental.

Rebecca Långström was appointed to the new role of Head of Sustainability in July to lead the implementation of the ESG strategy.

The summer also brought the “Large Rental Company of the Year” award at the European Rental Awards. The jury cited significant growth, improved profitability, and expansion into new market areas as the reasons for this recognition.

Kari Aulasmaa, the CEO of the group, expressed that the award reflects the hard work, dedication, professionalism, and customer-centric approach of the entire Renta team.

Throughout the summer and fall, Renta’s network and expertise continued to grow with new acquisitions. In Norway, the acquisition of Mylift added eight branches and over 200 employees, strengthening Renta’s offerings in terms of construction site facilities and scaffolding. In Finland, Renta acquired new expertise in environmental control and specialized pumping.

Renta’s digital capabilities also expanded, with new features added to Renta Easy. Towards the end of 2023, strategic partnerships were announced regarding the remote monitoring of construction site power grids with the Spine system and the digitalization of location and usage data for small equipment with the Hilti Runtime Tag smart tag.

Both of these developments are related to the future of rental experiences, where customers can leverage the potential of real-time usage data for entirely new services.

Due to several factors, such as rising interest rates, a slowdown in construction demand, and general uncertainty, the rental market as a whole showed signs of slowing down by the end of the year – challenges that Renta will have to face in the coming year.

Nevertheless, Renta’s position in the competitive landscape remains strong. Renta continues to be an industry leader and relies on its core values: understanding the customer, an entrepreneurial spirit, reliability, and innovation.

As we move into 2024, Renta had over 2000 employees in eight countries and more than 170 depots.

2022 – Strategic Growth and Emphasis on Responsibility

In 2022, Renta had another busy year, both in “old” and new market areas.

The rental network expanded in the spring in Eastern Norway with the acquisition of Utleisentret.

In the summer of 2022, Renta announced the acquisition of Uprent, which operated in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, with 13 branches and over 100 employees. This acquisition also brought specialized expertise in pumping and construction water management to the group.

In Denmark, Renta acquired Lohke Materielutlejning A/S, a equipment rental company with 5 branches and over 90 employees in Copenhagen, Esbjerg, and Aarhus.

The acquisition of L&E Maskin, a equipment rental company, established Renta’s presence in Northern Sweden, expanding the Swedish rental network to 50 branches.

In 2022, Renta emphasized sustainability more strongly in its operations, focusing on ecological, social, and economic sustainable development.

Equipment rental inherently promotes resource-efficient circular economy, but in 2022, Renta implemented various sustainability-enhancing measures. These measures included emissions-free equipment investments, waste sorting, the use of membrane plastics, improving equipment utilization rates and maintenance processes, ensuring workplace safety, safety training, employee well-being, and community involvement, such as supporting local sports activities.

Renta also highlighted sustainability in its communication efforts. In the Renta Future TV talk show series, Renta’s own experts discussed various themes such as the future of machinery, talent shortages, and technological advancements. The series included representatives from equipment manufacturers, organizations, education, and research. It was a tremendous success.

Renta’s mission is to provide its customers with solutions that allow work to be done efficiently, safely, and resource-wise.

In 2022, Renta initiated the development of an ESG strategy and prepared for sustainable development reporting.

With its expansion, Renta’s position in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region is significant. By the end of 2022, Renta was serving over 1500 renters at 135 different branches.

2021 – The Eve of a New Era for the Renta Group

In 2021, Renta significantly increased the share of fully electric machines in its fleet, in line with the previously established Green Deal commitment.

Almost 100% of the personnel lifts acquired during the year were fully electric. Renta Finland also welcomed its first fully electric wheel loaders.

Renta committed to reducing the consumption of plastic films and increasing the recycling rate in alignment with the Construction Plastics Green Deal Agreement 2020-2027.

The rental network expanded into new areas. For example, Renta Norway AS acquired the entire share capital of Byggesystemer Norgen AS, which had 8 rental locations in Northern Norway and provided scaffolding services in Oslo.

In Renta’s story, the year 2021 also marked the end of a chapter and an era as Intera Fund II, the longstanding majority owner since the beginning, and the new owner, European private equity firm IK Partners, announced a deal concerning Renta Group’s shares.

CEO Kari Aulasmaa thanked Intera for an exceptional journey in creating a modern, leading player in the rental markets of the Baltic Sea region.

Aulasmaa also emphasized the significance of IK’s international network for the partnership, highlighting the upcoming work in developing digital and responsible rental services, in addition to expanding the geographical rental network.

At the end of 2021, Renta had grown into a group with over 1,000 employees, operating in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Poland, with an annual turnover of almost 300 million euros.

“The goal is for Renta’s people to feel good, and for people to want to work at Renta. This inevitably reflects towards the customer, and the customer is likely to feel good too. It leads to the market shares, wherever that may lead.”

 

– Kari Aulasmaa, CEO

2020 – Renta Grew Even in the Year of the Pandemic

The global pandemic forced the entire world to adapt to a state of emergency. Renta responded to the situation by increasing remote work and reducing contacts in rental offices.

The pandemic had tangible consequences for Renta’s services as well. Construction sites required smaller numbers of people per unit. Renta, for example, built drive-through, partitioned COVID-19 testing points.

The use and demand for remote connections grew exponentially. In late 2020, Renta launched intelligent construction site facilities equipped with ready-made IT solutions and connections.

On April 6, 2020, Renta opened its first rental office in Poland in Katowice. A few weeks later, rental offices in Krakow and Wroclaw were also opened.

By the end of 2020, Renta had 7 locations in Norway, 3 in Poland, and 29 in Finland.

The network in Sweden had already expanded to the size of 41 Renta rental offices. Each rental office in Sweden held ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications.

Despite the uncertain times, Renta’s year 2020 was quite successful.

2019 – Renta Brand Strengthens, and New Innovations Revolutionize the Industry

In the spring of 2019, the transition of the Swedish and Norwegian companies under the Renta brand began. The unified Renta logo, orange color scheme, and other visual elements built a sense of unity and facilitated collaboration. In Sweden, for example, Renta was involved in the construction site of the Stockholm E4 bypass, where specialized lifting equipment from Norway was utilized.

The rental network in Sweden grew both organically and through acquisitions. For instance, Renta’s Swedish subsidiary acquired the entire share capital of JRent AB, based in Jönköping.

In Finland, the Renta Group, which had included Suomen Työmaapalvelut Oy since January 2018, merged it into Renta Oy. Operating under the same company and brand provided clarity in offerings and allowed the geographical expansion of construction site services.

In September 2019, Renta Group Oy established a subsidiary in Poland and appointed Tomasz Walawender as the Country Manager for Poland and a member of the Group’s executive team.

In 2019, Renta took significant steps in the field of digitalization, utilizing artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and machine telematics data.

A new version of the Renta Easy application was released in the early part of the year. In 2019, Renta also introduced Renta Modules and Renta Visuals. Behind these tools for the planning and visualization of construction site facilities is the DigiOffice team, composed of Renta’s own personnel and a network of partners.

By the end of 2019, nearly 700 ‘renters’ were working in four countries.

2018 – Renta Expands into Sweden and Norway

In early 2018, Renta continued its expansion both geographically and in terms of service offerings.

In January, Renta Group acquired the entire share capital of Suomen Työmaapalvelut, enhancing its expertise as a comprehensive provider of construction site services. The deal brought additional expertise in construction site electrification, environmental control, and the design, installation, and consultancy services for construction site facilities.

Internationalization had been in preparation since the previous fall. In April 2018, the acquisition of the entire share capital of the Swedish general equipment rental company, Stål & Hyr Group AB, was announced. The 12 rental offices of the company, founded in 1979, along the west coast of Sweden and in Northwest Skåne, provided Renta with a foothold for growth in the crucial rental markets of Sweden.

In August 2018, Stål & Hyr signed an agreement to acquire the entire share capital of Hyrcenter I Nerike AB, operating in the Central Sweden region. This acquisition added six rental offices, expanding the network to cover the region between the major lakes of Central Sweden.

In November, Stål & Hyr acquired the entire share capital of Aros Hyresmaskiner AB, further expanding the network to cover the Stockholm area.

The goal is to become a nationwide player in Sweden within two years.

In October 2018, the acquisition of the entire share capital of the Norwegian general equipment rental company Flexleie AS was announced. Similar to Stål & Hyr Group, Flexleie shares Renta’s local and customer-centric corporate culture.

The company had 5 rental offices on the west coast of Norway, in the Oslo area, and in Northern Norway, as well as one rental office on the Swedish side, in the Stockholm region. The aim for the coming years is to become a nationwide player in Norway as well.

2017 – Growth and Innovations

Between the spring of 2016 and the spring of 2018, the rental network in Finland was significantly expanded. Key steps in this journey included outsourcing the equipment of SSR Group (now Pallas Rakennus Oy) to Renta, along with a long-term collaboration agreement.

The market conditions in the construction industry were favorable for Renta, and the timing of the expansion was excellent. The company grew in Finland significantly faster than both plans and market conditions had anticipated. Concurrently, Renta prepared for internationalization and developed its organization at all levels.

In June 2017, the first version of the Renta Easy rental and equipment management application was launched. The application allows customers to view rented equipment by construction site and manage equipment orders, returns, as well as maintenance and refueling service requests.

In the fall of 2017, all brands were standardized, and Telinekymppi became Renta Telineet. The production capacity of construction site facilities was doubled to accelerate growth.

The operational area of Renta Telineet was expanded to cover major cities in Finland.

2016 – The Beginning of the Rental Network in Finland

The actual business was created based on the operations of three well-known Finnish companies. As part of the new company, the following were acquired:

Founded in 2005, Kymppi-Yhtiöt Oy, including well-known subsidiaries such as Telinekymppi Oy, specializing in the rental of scaffolding and weather protection The site accommodation rental operations of Jasoca Oy, established in 1993 Kehä-Kone Oy, a general equipment rental company established in 2015

The business of these companies provided a platform for the development and organic growth of the future company. The values, organizational culture, and strong regional market positions of these companies aligned with Renta’s values and vision.

In all acquisitions, the owners and key personnel of the purchased companies joined Renta as employees and owners. This has been an important value for Renta from the beginning – at the end of 2018, approximately one-third of Renta’s employees were also owners of the company.

The Renta brand was launched in the market in April 2016. At this stage, the name of the group company became Renta Group Oy.

In 2015 – Decision to establish a new kind of equipment rental company

In 2015, a small group of experienced professionals in the construction equipment and rental industry, in collaboration with the private equity firm Intera Partners, made the decision to create a new kind of rental concept. The goal was to become a significant player in the entire Baltic Sea region market. The founders of Renta recognized a clear demand for a new type of operator in the region.

Renta was built from the ground up based on a set of values that revolve around understanding the customer, entrepreneurial spirit, reliability, and innovation. The company’s strategy and practical implementation have been anchored in these values to this day.