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WOMEN INRENTAL
IRNMARCH 2015
Women inrental
IRN
shines the spotlight on
women in senior positions
in rental companies and
manufacturers targeting
the rental industry around
theworld.
T
he global rental industry is a dynamic
and fast-paced market, populated by
hard working and highly skilled men and
women from all walks of life. However, as with the
construction and engineering sector in general, the
perception can be that it is something of a male-
dominated industry.
But this is changing, according to research from
the UK at least, where recruiter Randstad CPE
said women were expected to make up 26% of
the UK’s construction workforce by 2020, and are
MarziaGiusto,
director
general, Nacanco
Ms Giusto, a member of the family that has owned powered access
equipment rental companyNacanco since it was founded in Spain in 1982,
is the director general of Nacanco SpA in Italy, where the aerial platform
rental companymade its debut in 2001.
“I began in the financial department, and as the companymatured and
its structure changed, I moved up through the ranks. From 2001 to 2009
wegrewveryquicklyanddecided toput amoreprofessionalmanagement
structure inplace. I started takingcareof Nacanco Italy in2007," she said.
“The rental business always changing, and you have to solve a lot
of problems. Here in Italy we are focussing on our everyday operations, we need more analysis and
statistics; wewant to look deeper into each operation. Margins are very hard at themoment sowewant
to improve efficiency.
“I had the opportunity to join this industry through the family business, but I don’t think it makes a
difference if you are a man or a woman in this business; the principle is that you have to know your
market verywell – youhave to look deep.
“My feeling is that this yearwill be flat year for the Italian rental industry. We sawdecreases from 2009
to 2014, andwill try to recover what we lost. I think themarket will probably be better in 2016 – it might
be better at least. We are focussing on our approach to the market, with much more attention on the
customer. We are also branching out beyond core construction to othermarkets such as the events and
industrial sectors.”
TeresaKee, director environmental health
& safety, NESRentals
US-based NES Rentals offers a range of equipment for rent from boom and scissor lifts to forklifts, earthmovingmachines and
on-site equipment such as generators andpumps.
“Before I joinedNES, I wasworking at Sears in the corporate offices, managing all the environmental due diligence, and I put a
feeler outwith some contacts at the time that Searswasmergingand I cameacrossNES rentals. I knewnothingabout theaerial
work platform (AWP) –moving industry affordedme the opportunity to learnmore about health and safety.
“I think the rental industry isconsistentwith theconstruction industryoverall, it’samale-dominated industryasawhole.We’re
trying to improve thisatNES. I belong to theNational AssociationofWomen inConstruction, whichhad itsnational conference in
September, andwe gave theAWPmanagers’ course at that event. It’s a great network and support group.
“To get into the rental business you need a willingness to learn. It is a somewhat a specialised industry, and I’m no means
a mechanic or a driver – so I would recommend to anyone joining the industry to definitely go through operator training, ride along with the driver, shadow a
mechanic, these are the best ways to fully understandwhat it’s like at a branch level.
"This industry canbe kind roughand rugged, so it is important that you canget your point across ina calm fashion. Also I would say that having to knowa little
about a lot of things is probably the biggest challenge ofmy job.
Ms Kee said the companywas expecting agood year in 2015, with an increaseover 2014which itself was apositive trading year. She also forecast that the issue
of health and safetywould continue togrowon the industry agenda.
“We saw lots of developments in 2013/14 across the industry, including our partneringwith IPAF for E-learning. When you start having some of themain players
in the industry raising that bar, the industry is going to start expecting it. Quality trainingprogrammes are becominghugely important for our industry.”
increasingly taking up senior roles. The European
Commissionhasalsopublishedastudyonstatistical
data on women entrepreneurs in Europe, which
showed that women entrepreneurs constitute 29%
of entrepreneurs (11.6million) in Europe
IRN
caught up with women in senior positions in
the global rental and equipment manufacturing
industries to findout how theygot tobewhere they
are, what they enjoyed the most about their work,
and what their forecasts were for their part of the
industry this year.
IRN
