The shock drop in the value of kit hired by the UK’s biggest builders is highlighted in a major new report into the plant hire market.

The survey shows that more than half of the biggest hirers of plant cut their spending on kit as construction workloads dived.

The biggest drop was at Roger Bullivant with plant hire spending at the piling specialist falling 60% last year to £6.8m.

Other large falls were reported at Barhale which saw a 41% drop to £16m and Wates which spent 38% less at £4.9m.

The author of the Plant Hire Investment Report, Catherine Stratton,  believes the plant hire sector is in for another turbulent time next year with major players set to be sold.

She said: “The recession and the probability of severe cutbacks in government capital expenditure seem likely to bring about further changes in the hire sector.

“We have already seen Finning exiting hire in the UK with its sale of Hewden to private equity.

“It would not be surprising if one or two other prominent hirers that are foreign owned were also to be sold.”

The top ten biggest spenders in the plant hire market are:

Contractor                          Hire Spend 2009 (£m)

Laing O’Rourke                   88.1

Balfour Beatty                      83

Galliford Try                         52.6

BAM Nuttall                          48.9

Tarmac                                 48.4

National Grid                         48

Costain                                  36.5

Vinci                                      32.2

Skanska                                30.4

Clancy Group                        28.3

For copies of the Plant Hire Investment Report contact Mandy Rees at [email protected]