HSS raises £13m to ease pressure in wake of delay

Tools group HSS Hire today tapped shareholders for £13 million to fend off pressure from an over-running upgrade plan.

The firm, known for its blue-and-yellow vans, has raised £6.5 million apiece from top shareholders Exponent and Toscafund, run by Martin “the Rottweiler” Hughes.

It is hoped the placing of new shares, led by broker Numis, will strengthen the balance sheet of the group. HSS is investing heavily in a new model to distribute tools around the country and has opened a national hub near Oxford.

That has proved more difficult than expected and HSS has pushed back completion of the plan until the end of March, leading to higher one-off costs of £12.5 million this year.

Toscafund’s backing of HSS’s plan is at odds with the stance on rival Speedy Hire, where it tried and failed to remove the chairman in September.