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BYRNEEQUIPMENTRENTAL INTERVIEW
IRNMARCH 2015
Byrneahead
Byrne Equipment Rental has expanded likewildfire in theMiddle
East since it was founded 20 years ago, and is searching for
fresh opportunitieswith the support of its new owner Hanco.
IRN
caught upwith COO Patrick Fallon to find outmore.
H
eadquartered in Dubai, UAE, Byrne
Equipment Rental was established more
than 20 years ago and has grown to one of
the largest general rental companies in the Middle
East. It has 450 employees and 13 offices and rental
depots in UAE, Qatar, Oman, and the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
The company offers a wide range of equipment
for rental from temporary multi-use buildings to
generators, compressors, lighting towers, welding
machines, material handling equipment, power
washers, pumps, air dryers andmuchmore.
InMarch last year, the companywas 75%acquired
by Saudi Arabian car leasing and rental company
Hanco from Havenvest Private Equity Middle East
and HSBC Bank Middle East for US$163million (€144
million).
The Venture Capital Bank acquired the remaining
25%of thecompany. Thedeal includedByrne’ssister
division, Spacemaker, a portable accommodation
manufacturing and sales business.
For his part, Patrick Fallon has been associated
with Byrne since 1990, and officially joined Byrne
in 1994, shortly after the company formation, as a
business developmentmanager.
In 1997, he was appointed general manager and
then went on to become group general manager
in 2000, and then in 2008 became chief operating
officer (COO), shortlyafter thecompany’sownership
changed toprivate equity.
Mr Fallon said that when he first joined the
company, the original plan was to expand outside
of the UAE in what were then emerging markets in
Asia. But the company then decided to develop the
brand in strategic locations in theclosergulf region.
Diverse fleet
“We have arguably the most diverse and largest
fleet in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, with
over 8000 items of equipment. We will be investing
over US$25 million (€22 million) alone in 2015 just
replacing and updating our fleet and support
functions.
“Inaddition to thiswehavea firmobjective tonot
only replace existing equipment, but also increase
our fleet size by investing in new products and
services.
"Significantlywehave already started introducing
heavy plant equipment and cranes along with blast
resistant buildings and other industry specific
products to better serve the oil and gas sector,” he
explained.
Mr Fallon said 2014 had been a year of growth and
change for the company, with many of its country
teams relocating into much larger operational
facilities around the region.
“Our new Dubai Head Office and primary
operational facility at the new Dubai Industrial
City, enables us to prepare, refurbish and rebuild
equipment all inone location.
"This not only improves our response times,
but our efficiency overall, allowing us to continue
delivering cost-effective rental solutions to our
customers. We also moved into larger premises all
across theGCC.”
And Byrne expects to further expand in 2015,
opening in new areas such as Kuwait and new
regions of Saudi Arabia, where Mr Fallon said the
companywouldbe “aggressively expanding”.
Byrne also has a foothold in the portable
buildings rental industry, supported by its sister
manufacturing company Spacemaker
Byrne Equipment Rental COO Patrick Fallon: “We have
arguably themost diverse and largest fleet in the
Gulf Cooperation Council region”
