Established in 1986, family-owned business Bentley Crane Hire has been able to stay on top in a crowded Western Australian market by providing its customers with service it claims is second to none. People are at the forefront of the company’s operations and over the years, Bentley has developed both a friendly and loyal working relationship with its clients, as well as a strong team environment for its employees, writes Jan Arreza.
Its people-focused attitude means that while the fleet is a key part of the equation, Bentley has a strong pool of competent and qualified dogmen, riggers, and operators to offer. Additionally, any one of Bentley’s employees is able and equipped to assist their clients in all types of jobs, ensuring the work is completed safely and in a hassle-free manner.
“We do not claim to be biggest but we will be best because we believe that if in every aspect of the business we warrant high regard, then success will follow,” said William J Andrade, executive operations manager at Bentley Crane Hire.
“We are specialists in our field and we are confident that we will provide clients with an excellent and reliable service backed by guarantee, and this is what will distinguish us from our competitors.
“We will continue to supply the high level of customer service that is expected from our clients, which is something that we have provided over the years, since the beginning of our company.”
Andrade also pointed to Bentley’s operating process, which has driven the company forward over the years. The process was developed in-house to meet the company’s policies and philosophies, and importantly, generate a sense of ownership amongst their staff. It also integrates Australian Standard AS 4170 and international best practice systems.
The system is a comprehensive standalone management tool that dictates and encourages consistent standards of safety management across all projects. These standards are reflected in individual project management plans that flow from the system.
Turning to the machines, Bentley’s fleet comprises 7t to the 750t capacity cranes. The company services all of WA’s metropolitan areas as well as mine sites and other states in Australia.
“When Bentley started all of those years ago, we started out with a fleet of four cranes and it just grew from there,” Andrade said.
“We want to be a one-stop-shop service where you can call on Bentley Crane Hire to get anything done with the range of machines at our disposal. An advantage for us is, we’ve got a large number of cranes and prime movers with low loaders and drop decks we can supply, not just one on a particular project, but we can supply multiple numbers of these cranes to our clients, allowing them to do their job a lot quicker and more efficiently.
“And if your crane requirements are different to those in our fleet, we can always organise the machine required,” Andrade said.
A recent project that Bentley worked on was the Optus Stadium in Burswood, where the company deployed its range of mobile hydraulic cranes, including the 95t, 100t, 200t and the 250t.
“We’ve also got projects all over the metro ranging in construction, engineering, and mining, and we also specialise in dry hire where we lease out these cranes on long-term hire to various sites in the metropolitan areas as well as mine sites and other states in Australia,” Andrade said.
To match its growth, Bentley recently moved into a new depot located in the Australian Marine Complex (AMC) in Henderson, and now offers services from two main depots, with the other located in Welshpool. Its fleet has also expanded, with the company recently acquiring three all-terrain cranes, two 16t Tom Thumbs cranes, and another prime mover with flat top and drop deck trailers. Plans are currently being made to continue growing the fleet.
“We’re planning on further purchasing some of the smaller city cranes, such as the 16t Tom Thumbs, as we’ve recently been focusing on getting contracts with larger residential builders like Dale Alcock Homes,” Andrade said.
“We’ve recently been awarded some contracts for projects with them as a start and hopefully we will secure more as time goes by, hence the plans for expanding our fleet with these 16t machines.”
As for making it in Cranes and Lifting’s Top 50, Andrade said: “Being recognised in the Top 50 is obviously an honour and just proves that a lot of the hard work and effort that we do was all worth it in the end.”
A snapshot of services
Bentley offers:
- 7t to 750t cranes available for hire;
- wet and dry hire;
- long- and short-term hire;
- all-terrains, Frannas and crawler cranes;
- hydraulic slewing cranes;
- rough terrains and city class cranes;
- charter and training vessel;
- barge and tower cranes;
- truck and trailer hire;
- heavy transport haulage;
- EWP (cherry picker);
- residential and commercial services;
- mining and industrial services;
- dogman, riggers and operators; and
- free site appraisals and quotes.