Tool and equipment rental company Speedy Hire said that its revenue dipped last year as it was hit by a warm winter and a generally “challenging market.”
The business said it would still meet the expectations the board had set it, but warned it would be at the lower end of its forecast.
Revenue was down around 5% compared with the year before, hitting around £420 million in the year to March 31.
The business said that its regional bases had underperformed, and it had been hit by a reduction in wholesale fuel prices.
Speedy Hire also said that the money it had made from seasonal products had been reduced by a warmer winter.
“The group has performed resiliently in the year against a challenging market backdrop and wider macroeconomic uncertainty,” the business said.
“The cost inflation and softer demand faced across much of the construction sector mean that revenues from our regional customers closed 6% down year-on-year, although these stabilised in the last quarter of the year and in the 2025 financial year trading to date.
“Revenues from our national customers whilst declining in the last quarter had continued to trade positively year-on-year.”
The business said that it won new long-term contracts last year which will add £40 million to annual turnover when fully implemented.
It comes as the business continues a transformation plan, which is coming at “significant cost”. Speedy said that it would reveal this cost at the end of the year.
It cost £2 million in trading losses and closure costs to change its partnership with B&Q.
The business has left all its 22 concessions in B&Q shops and is instead available for digital hire in all B&Q and Tradepoint sites.