Olivia PowellHire Association Europe and Event Hire Association (HAE EHA), the trade association for the hire and events industries, has announced that the Hire Awards of Excellence 2020 will be held online due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The Hire Awards of Excellence aim to recognise the best in the industry for plant, tool and event equipment hire from both national and independent companies and individuals.
The awards ceremony will now be streamed on 16 September at 4pm, following the association’s AGM. All shortlisted companies will be asked to film an acceptance speech with only the winners making the final edit.
The awards were originally planned to take place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on 4 April, however were postponed until autumn when news of the pandemic first broke back in March.
CEO Graham Arundell said: “As the ongoing situation and uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 continues, we’ve taken the sensible decision to move this year’s Hire Awards of Excellence to a virtual platform. The safety and wellbeing of our guests, finalists and sponsors is paramount and as it stands, holding a physical event still remains challenging.
“The awards ceremony has always been a stand-out event in the hire industry’s calendar, delivering it virtually presents a fantastic opportunity for us to come together and collectively celebrate the amazing achievements of hire and supply companies, and individual successes, across the UK’s plant, tool, equipment and event hire industry, in a safe way.
“By keeping the winners tightly under wraps until the 16 September we hope that we can maintain the element of mystery that usually surrounds the event and encourage the industry to get involved. It would be great if people donned their finery and raised a glass to those shortlisted and of course the winners.”
The full list of finalists for the Hire Awards of Excellence 2020 can be found here.