We specialise in tower crane rental, and also erect tower cranes and supply operators. We have 96 tower cranes in our fleet. In the beginning of our activity we had good relations with Wolffkran, and bought several secondhand Liebherr cranes. We were satisfied with the cranes and aftersales support offered by both companies. In 2006 we began to cooperate with Terex Comedil, where we have met high professionalism, great kindness and understanding of our needs. We still also buy from Wolffkran.

Our 2006 revenue was PLN 9.9m (Eur 2.54m). But results from the first half of 2007 were PLN 8.95m (Eur 2.33m), up 2.3 times over the same period in 2006. Our net earnings in the first half of 2007 were PLN 2.352m (Eur 614,000), up five times over the same period in 2006. We expect 2008 revenues of PLN 40m, producing net earnings of PLN 12m.

Poland’s growth has helped our company grow. We estimate there are 1,300 tower cranes in Poland, although not all are owned by Polish companies. For the past two years the tower crane population has grown by 25% annually. We expect that the tower crane growth rate will stabilise on a rate of 15-20%.

We forecast an 8% growth rate in construction until 2012. The main demand for cranes in Poland is driven by residential construction. But we expect that in the coming years the participation of infrastructure, power engineering and environmental protection will grow too. The Euro 2012 football championships in Poland and the Ukraine will also bring investment in building.

The health and safety regulations are very strict in Poland. Every crane operator and service engineer has to have a special authorisation for work issued by the Technical Supervision Office. Our work would be much easier and faster if functions of the Technical Supervision Office could be provided also by private companies.

In December we founded a subsidiary EFH Budownictwo to enter the construction business as a general contractor. We are also planning to purchase another 90 tower cranes and open three new branches across Poland. We plan to become the largest tower crane rental company in Poland.

We have just signed a letter of intent with Orco Property to help build the highest apartment block in Poland, using anchored WK 7031, WK 5520 and a CTL 160. Build-up starts this month.

-Interview with managing director Piotr Guzowski