Sunbelt Rentals connected 3,700 employees (mostly non-desk) across 200+ locations with an employee app and seamlessly and successfully merged 20 brands into one.
Headquarters:
Warrington, United Kingdom
Founded:
1947
Company size:
3,700+
Industry:
Construction
Sunbelt Rentals is the UK’s leading supplier of plant, tools, and specialist equipment hire for the construction, events, and infrastructure markets. As part of FTSE100 Ashtead Group plc, Sunbelt Rentals has over 3,700 employees across 200+ locations nationwide. Most impressively the group has deployed solution services for the government on practically every NHS Regional Testing Centre across the UK, helping provide vital testing facilities for COVID-19.
Over the last seven years, Sunbelt Rentals, previously known as A-Plant, grew at an exponential rate through the acquisition of a number of specialist businesses. Each had their own brand identity, culture, and strategy. This ultimately caused a communication gap as there was no single point of contact and no single method to communicate throughout the 20+ businesses. A number of employees didn’t have access to company email addresses, desktops, or the internet, with the main source of information coming from direct mail, bi-annual magazines, and line managers.
Central starting point
Have one single source of truth to ultimately improve employee trust and engagement.
Merge
20+ brands into one and transform the business to have one clear brand, mission, and vision.
Access
A number of employees only had access to information coming from direct mail, bi-annual magazines, and line managers.
Reach
The aim is to reach ALL employees, from the office to production.
75 %
of employees downloaded and regularly use the app
600
views per post
80 %
survey engagement score
Interaction is user-friendly, has a sophisticated content management system, and was pushed to go live in a short amount of time.
One of the biggest unexpected benefits has been the ability to communicate and use the employee communication app for crisis communications during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world went into lockdown employees were a willing audience that demanded a huge amount of content to address their need to know and understand what was going on with the business.
The team worked on creating content that would ensure the entire company knew how pivotal they were to the pandemic response through the deployment of almost every NHS Testing Centre for COVID-19.
Transforming and merging 20+ brands into one is not an easy challenge for any communicator. However, the implementation of a mobile-first solution has allowed Sunbelt Rentals to help close the communication gap they once faced. Interaction has been able to inform, educate, and engage with Sunbelt Rentals’ workforce by providing them with relevant information-especially during the coronavirus crisis.
I can't say this enough, because everything's so visual on the app, and the opportunity for feedback is there, which it wasn't before: everyone's game is up. Everyone works a little bit harder. Which is quite fascinating, and in fact great to see.
Chris Nicholls
National Communications Manager, Sunbelt Rentals
See how DHL used Staffbase's Smart Workspace, empowering 600K employees worldwide.
Heraeus revolutionized their internal communication with a modern mobile-first intranet - replacing an aging SharePoint solution and employee newspaper. For the first time, they are connecting not only office workers but also non-desk workers reliably and directly.
Through the implementation of an employee app, Max Mara Fashion Group connected 5,500+ employees and has over 3,700 employees actively using the app per week.