About

London Crane Hire has been providing specialist crane hire services across Greater London since 2008. We started with a small fleet of mobile cranes and a team of three operators. Today we operate a fleet of mobile cranes, tower cranes and mini cranes, supported by in-house lifting engineers, appointed persons, erection specialists and a logistics team with specific experience in London's complex urban environment.

Our Background

The company was founded by a team of crane engineers who had spent their careers working for major national plant hire groups but saw a gap in the market for a specialist London-focused operation. The national companies were good at large-volume standard operations. What London sites needed was a company that understood the capital's specific requirements: the permit processes, the proximity rules, the underground infrastructure constraints, the borough-specific planning conditions and the technical challenges of working in one of the densest urban environments in the world.

That focus on London has defined how we have built the business. Our team knows which boroughs require early engagement with the traffic management team. They know the ground conditions in the different geological zones across the capital. They understand the airspace management requirements around London City Airport and the protected view corridors that restrict crane heights in parts of Central London. This is not knowledge you can find in a manual; it comes from over 15 years of working on the ground.

Our Team

Our operators all hold current CPCS cards in the relevant categories for the machines they operate. Mobile crane operators hold A60 and A61; tower crane operators hold A04; and our mini crane specialists hold A58. We employ dedicated operators rather than using agency labour, which means our operators know the machines in our fleet and the standards we work to.

Our lifting engineers and appointed persons hold LEEA (Lifting Equipment Engineers Association) qualifications in appointed person practice and lifting plan preparation. Every complex lift we carry out is planned by an in-house appointed person with hands-on experience of similar operations in London conditions.

Our erection team, responsible for tower crane installations and dismantling, are employed directly and hold both the A04 CPCS category and current fall arrest certification. Tower crane erection is one of the highest-risk activities in our industry and we carry it out with our own trained team, not sub-contractors.

Our Fleet

We maintain a fleet of mobile cranes from 8 tonnes to 500 tonnes, self-erecting and top-slewing tower cranes from 6 tonne-metres to 300 tonne-metres, and a range of spider cranes and compact crawlers for mini crane hire. All plant is maintained to a planned preventive maintenance schedule and inspected at the intervals required by LOLER 1998 by an independent inspection body. Plant inspection records and current certificates of thorough examination are available on request for all machines.

Safety and Compliance

Every lifting operation we carry out is governed by a formal lifting plan and method statement. We do not carry out unplanned or improvised lifts. Our appointed persons review every lifting operation before it proceeds, and our operators are authorised and expected to stop any lift where conditions on site do not match the approved lifting plan.

We carry full public liability insurance, employers' liability insurance, and plant all-risks insurance on our entire fleet. Certificates of insurance are available on request and are routinely required by principal contractors when we are appointed as a sub-contractor on their site.

To find out more about our services or to book a free site survey, contact our team or get in touch online.