Given the ongoing situation with Covid-19, HAE EHA has taken the decision to move the Hire Awards of Excellence 2020 online. The awards ceremony will now be streamed at 4pm on 16th September following the association’s AGM with guests able to attend and network, albeit in a virtual setting. All shortlisted companies will be asked to film an acceptance speech with only the winners making the final edit. Until that point, they’ll remain a closely guarded secret in the same way they would at a physical award ceremony.

The awards were originally planned to take place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Saturday 4th April. Organiser HAE EHA pushed this back to the autumn when news of the pandemic first broke back in March.

Explaining in more detail, 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 16th 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,” concludes Arundell.

The full list of finalists for the Hire Awards of Excellence 2020 can be found here.