The mobile crane hire firm is spending £11.4m expanding its fleet by four new cranes this year, having already received a 500 tonne crane in January.

Two further cranes are expected before the end of the year, an additional Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 and a second 500 tonne crane.

The cranes will be used to meet increased demand for Ainscough’s services from within the energy sector, where the construction and maintenance of oil refineries and wind farms forms a large part of the firm’s workload.

Gareth Jones, commercial director at Ainscough Crane Hire, said: “This investment acknowledges the need to adapt and expand our fleet to meet the changing needs of the marketplace.

“Ainscough is already the largest heavy crane operator in the country, and the expansion of our fleet means that we can give clients the highest level of service and work on more of the UK’s largest projects. We are very pleased with our new Liebherr and will be deploying it to its first job early next week.”

Ainscough’s new Liebherr LTM1750-9.1