John Mitchell, Business Development Manager with Rotom Roldorent, crate hire and equipment pooling company for the moving industry, looks at the changing world of crate rental.
The established model for crate rental has remained unchanged since Rentacrate first introduced the fibre-board crate to the commercial moving industry in the early 1970s. Over the same period, it would be fair to say that the service proposition offered by commercial movers has changed beyond recognition. The contrast poses a question: is the established crate rental model fit for purpose in 2025 and beyond?
When you think about it, the answer is probably yes. The established crate hire model, including the delivery and collection service, was well ahead of its time, almost ‘Amazonian’, and established over 50 years before we became used to shopping from our armchairs. It was a volume business both in terms of the numbers of crates delivered and collected and the density of delivery and collection sites and, much like Amazon and other online stores, that scale and density was part of the reason it worked.
It was the ‘milk round’ delivery model which benefited from economies of scale. Towards the late 1980s and early 1990s the scale was enormous, the marketplace fiercely competitive with national crate rental services being offered by Rentacrate, GB Crate Hire, Nationwide Crate Hire and Teacrate Plc all jostling for position with free delivery and same-day delivery common place.
The digital revolution, changed office environments and hybrid working have all contributed to the decline in the overall size of the UK crate rental market which is now perhaps one fifth of the size it once was.
But I believe the model is still fit for purpose. However, without the volume and scale the accompanying crate losses and unforeseen extended crate rental have all but disappeared and that’s where the profit was located ...
Photo: John Mitchell, Business Development Manager, Rotom Roldorent.