Kintore woman on growing equipment hire firm from farm shed to eight employees

An Aberdeenshire woman has revealed how her company grew from spare parts in a farm shed to her own warehouse and eight employees.

Lorna Clark started Genny Hire in 2008 with her partner Peter Emslie.

After buying generators, fuel tanks and a can, the pair would work on them in an Oldmeldrum farm shed.

Now, they have their own facility in Kintore.

Lorna answered our questions on her biggest struggles, achievements and more.

How and why did you start in business?

I started Genny Hire with my partner, Peter Emslie, in 2008. It was one of those pivotal moments in your life when, sometimes, things just align and it’s exactly the right time.

We started off buying generators, a few fuel tanks and a van, and we would work on them in a farm shed by Oldmeldrum.

In September 2009, just before Offshore Europe, we moved into The Old Smiddy by the Murcar roundabout on the northern edge of Aberdeen.

Expansion meant we finally moved to Kintore in 2020, during lockdown.

Kintore is the perfect location for Genny Hire. We’re surrounded by many of our customers who are already located in the town.

We employ eight staff across the business and are very much Team Genny Hire. The team’s contribution is vital to the success that we currently enjoy.

How did you get to where you are today?

We noticed that while the oil and gas sector was predominant in Aberdeen, many of the other sectors were not being serviced, so we decided to fill the gap.

We began hiring generators out to farmers and for local events, then to small construction companies.

Over the years we’ve built up a strong customer base, largely by word of mouth.

We now hire, sell and service power solutions to the offshore, renewables, maritime, agriculture and events sectors.

As well as continuing to serve our loyal customers in the north east, we’re proud to have customers right across Scotland.

Who helped you?

Family support was very important from day one.

We also recognised the value of being part of organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses and Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce.

Being recognised as certificated members of these organisations developed trust from suppliers and customers in the early years.

To this day we utilise FSB membership benefits, such as access to legal documents, employment HR advice and their debt recovery service.

What is your biggest mistake?

Sadly, my Peter passed away in 2019.

The biggest mistake we made was that we did not recognise the importance of finding the right work-life balance while we were growing the business together.

This is my only regret. Life is short.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?

You have to believe in the power of positivity. There are many highs and many lows in business.

Every day at Genny Hire is a reminder to me of the loss of Peter, but it is also the reason why I keep returning to work every day.

What is your greatest achievement?

This might sound a bit technical, but our greatest achievement is our ISO 9001 certification.

It means we maintain an internationally recognised standard of commitment to quality and customer service.

We’ve operated to these standards for many years, but it was a good moment when we finally achieved the recognition.