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Since changing its name to WowNow in May 2021, the business has seen sales fall and profit turn to loss.
In the year to March 2020 it made an operating profit of £1.2m on sales of £16.4m. Latest accounts, for the year to September 2022 when it traded as WowNow, show an operating loss of £381,000 on sales of £14.4m.
WowNow is now being binned and Nationwide revived.
Nationwide Hire Ltd was incorporate in 1995 by Howard Piper as a tool hire brokerage service. It has no inventory, shops or depots but boasts access to five million products from 9,000 locations by acting as an intermediary.
It was acquired by private equity investor Livingbridge Enterprise LLP in 2019. WowNow Hire Ltd was incorporated in 2021 as a subsidiary of Nationwide Hire Ltd but never actually traded – it is listed at Companies House as a dormant company. Instead Nationwide Hire Ltd became “Nationwide Hire Ltd (trading as WowNow Hire)”.
Since the adoption of the WowNow brand, the company has brought in a new chief operating officer and a new marketing manager. COO Mark Burton is credited with taking the decision to revert to the original brand, despite the presence of similar-sounding car hire and powered access hire companies out there.
“After some serious heart-to-heart chats with our customers and dedicated staff, we've decided to re-grow from our roots and build on our established reputation as Nationwide,” the company said.
While the company now does business as Nationwide Hire Solutions, the 'solutions' but is just for effect. The company name remains Nationwide Hire Limited.
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