Mail on Sunday mentions Forbes whilst reporting on "The Boom in Renting Electronic Goods."

Toby Walne, award-winning journalist for the Mail on Sunday, mentioned our consumer business, Forbes Rentals, in his article at the weekend. He stated: ‘Runaway inflation, an energy crisis and more national strikes are on the horizon. With echoes of late 1970s’ Britain… there is now increasing interest in hiring goods for the home.’

Commercial clients approach Forbes looking for a reliable service support that has the benefit of avoiding upfront capital outlay or unforeseen repair costs. It represents a more sustainable and financially astute alternative to purchase that helps with budgets and financial forecasting. For the consumer, as the cost of living crisis deepens, rental certainly offers many financial advantages- as well as considerable logistical and environmental benefits. Our rental solutions give our consumer base access to the latest TVs, mobility scooters and home appliances without costly upfront capital outlay. With simple pay weekly or monthly payment structures, customers benefit from a first-class service support, at no extra cost. We provide inclusive installation and set-up as well as offering complimentary user demonstrations, at the point of delivery. Even our integrated kitchen appliances are installed at no extra cost which enables significant cost savings. We offer telephone-based, video-based and on-site service support with same/next day engineer callouts with no repair or replacements bills for the life of the contract. Notably, especially in these difficult times, Forbes also offers an extensive range of refurbished electrical and home appliances. These items are fully cleaned, commissioned and reconditioned, enabling us to offer exceptional value without any quality compromise and with the same multi-award winning service support.

Leasing is becoming increasingly popular for the commercial market and there has been a true resurgence of rental within the consumer market in recent years.  The Mail on Sunday article referenced the fact that: ‘increased  interest in renting electrical goods is having a knock- on effect - with furniture and clothes widely available to rent.’ Toby Walne also mentioned in his article that John Lewis has now moved into the rental market. At Forbes, our rental offering has expanded considerably in our 96 years of operation. We now rent TVs and AV equipment as well as leasing washing machines, tumble dryers, kitchen appliances and mobility scooters. As a society we are becoming ever more mindful of our ecological responsibilities, and less concerned with the concept of ownership.  Increasingly, we look to lease cars and mobile phones, tyres and furniture are rented, we read e-books and we use subscriptions for music access and television services. Consumption without conviction or conscience is not a scalable strategy going forward and society is now accustomed to the concept of paying for access to a service or commodity and it is becoming the norm to lease, recycle and re-use.  With regeneration at the very core of the rental model, it represents an alluring and more sustainable alternative to purchase, supporting the circular economy that we are all attempting to transition towards. Rental produces minimal waste and keeps products at their highest use and value at all times.  As fewer new resources are used there is inherently going to be a lesser cost to the environment. This appeals to both Forbes Rentals customers and Forbes Professional’s commercial clients. Rental also gives access to timely upgrade opportunities. Our rental base can keep in-line with the latest technology without supporting a throw away culture and safe in the knowledge that items move into a new life phase once returned.

Previously posted on Forbes Rentals.