Access Platforms & Equipment

For over 42 years, Acclaim Handling has been a leader in the supply and service of all types of Access Platforms and Equipment. We provide an unrivalled selection of new and used forklifts and equipment for hire, sale, or lease purchase. Our specialised team is on hand Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, to give the support you require. If a machine breaks down outside those hours, our emergency callout line runs 24/7. Regardless of which Access Platforms and Equipment you choose, our renowned service team will provide you with all-round support. For a complete listing of new and used Access Equipment, please look below.

Indoors or outdoors

Indoor work usually means electric, non-marking tyres and a machine narrow enough for doorways and lifts. Outdoor work on unmade ground means rough terrain tyres, and often four wheel drive and levelling jacks. Ground bearing pressure matters as much as reach: a machine that cannot safely stand where it needs to stand is no use however far it extends.

Why buy or hire access equipment from Acclaim

Acclaim Handling has supplied and serviced materials handling equipment since 1982, and access platforms sit alongside a fleet our own engineers maintain from eight depots. That matters more on access kit than almost anything else we sell: a machine that cannot be signed off is a machine nobody is allowed to stand on.

Working height, not platform height

The first figure to get right is working height, and it is the one most often confused. Platform height is how high the platform floor goes; working height is that figure plus roughly two metres for the person on it. Specify against platform height alone and you finish two metres short of the job.

Scissor, mast or boom

A scissor lift goes straight up and gives the biggest platform and the best load capacity, so it suits work directly overhead. A mast lift is narrower and lighter, which makes it the choice for tight indoor work and floors that will not take much weight. A boom lift reaches out as well as up, so it is what you need when plant, racking or a building line sits between the machine and the work. That horizontal reach, the outreach, is worth checking as carefully as the height.

Hire or buy

Access equipment is often needed for a defined job rather than every day, which is why much of it goes out on hire. If the work is a one-off, hire it. If a machine will be in use week in and week out, owning it usually costs less over time. Buy outright or finance through lease purchase, contract hire or operating lease, and note that access platforms are plant and machinery, so the purchase may attract capital allowances: see our guide to tax relief and capital allowances. Part exchange is open on any make and model.

Servicing and support

Servicing and repairs start from £90 ex VAT. Our team is on hand Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, and the emergency callout line runs 24/7 if a machine goes down outside those hours. We also run fleet management for anyone with mixed kit across several sites. Accreditations: ISO 9001, ISO 45001, UKMHA, SafeContractor, RTITB, JOSCAR and Cyber Essentials.

Nationwide delivery

We deliver nationwide from Purfleet, Kent, Reading, Portsmouth, Rugby, Norwich, Spalding and Liverpool, with transport charged separately depending on where you are. If you also need lifting kit for the same site, our forklift range and powered pallet trucks come from the same team.

Tell us the working height, the outreach and what the machine has to stand on, and we will tell you which of the three you need. Call 01708 861 414 or send us an enquiry.