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Crane hire in Derby and across Derbyshire
We provide crane hire in Derby, which is about as close to a pure engineering city as Britain has. Aero engine work at Sinfin, rolling stock at Litchurch Lane and vehicle manufacturing at Burnaston sit alongside a deep supply chain of smaller engineering firms, and the lifting that comes with all of it is precise, planned and usually inside a working building.
We supply mobile cranes with operators, and we plan and run full contract lifts, across Derby, Pride Park, Spondon, Sinfin, Chaddesden, Mickleover, Allestree, Littleover and out to Burton-on-Trent, Ashbourne and Belper. Most enquiries get a quote the same working day.
Crane hire or a contract lift?
With CPA crane hire, we supply the crane and operator, and you provide the lift plan, appointed person and lifting insurance. With a contract lift, we handle all of it. Every lift is carried out to BS 7121 by CPCS or NPORS operators, with equipment inspected under LOLER and PUWER. Our guide to crane hire vs contract lifting explains the difference in more detail.
Cranes for Derby jobs
| Crane type | Capacity / reach | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| All-terrain mobile crane | From 40t to 1,000t | Heavy plant, presses, long-span beams and large structures |
| City crane / pick and carry | From 5t to 60t | Factory floors, Cathedral Quarter streets and narrow residential roads |
| Mobile tower crane | Up to 60m | Multi-storey work where the programme cannot absorb a fixed tower install |
| Tower crane | Luffing, flat top and self-erecting | Longer construction programmes and restricted city-centre sites |
Tell us the weight, radius and access for your Derby job and we’ll recommend the right machine. Not sure where to start? Read our guide to what size crane you need.
Contact us
Get In Touch
Please leave a few details and a member of our crane hire and contract lifting team will be in touch to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Where we work in and around Derby
Most of our Derby crane hire work falls into a handful of sectors.
Aerospace and precision engineering
The aero engine and precision engineering base around Sinfin and the wider city brings machine tool moves, test equipment installs and process plant changes where the positioning tolerance and the cleanliness of the area matter more than the tonnage. See our aerospace sector page.
Rail
Litchurch Lane has been building rolling stock since the 1870s and the Derby rail supply chain still serves operators and manufacturers across the country. The work means possession-window lifts, depot equipment moves and machinery changes inside manufacturing buildings, all to fixed timings. See our rail sector page.
Automotive and the supply chain
Vehicle manufacturing on the western edge of the city and the component makers around it bring line changeovers, press installs, tooling moves and facility upgrades, nearly always inside a fixed shutdown. See our automotive sector page.
Pride Park, Spondon and Infinity Park
The commercial and industrial areas east and south of the centre mix office and new-build work with older industrial yards. Typical jobs are steel erection and precast on new units, machinery deliveries and installs and rooftop plant replacement. See our industrial and HVAC sector pages.
City-centre construction and the Cathedral Quarter
Student accommodation, residential schemes, offices and retail and leisure work bring steel, precast and rooftop plant, and the Cathedral Quarter streets are narrow enough that a compact machine in one position is usually the only option. See our construction sector page.
Hospitals, universities and utilities
Chiller and air handling unit replacement, scanner placements and plant room work on hospital and university sites, plus substation equipment changes and water treatment plant replacement across Derbyshire. See our healthcare and pharma and education sector pages.
Access and planning for lifts in Derby
Every site is different, but a few things come up again and again on Derby jobs:
- Getting there. Junctions 24 and 25 of the M1 sit east of the city, with the A38 running north to south, the A50 west towards Stoke and the A52 linking the city to the motorway. Larger all-terrain cranes and ballast loads are routed around low bridges and weight limits, and we plan the route before we quote.
- Inside working factories. A lot of Derby lifting happens on a live manufacturing site, which means inductions, permits, exclusion zones and a lift that fits the shutdown window rather than the other way round.
- Precision and vibration. On aerospace and rail work the tolerance and the vibration limits shape the method, so the placing gets planned as carefully as the lift.
- Mixed ground. Much of the work pairs paved approach roads with rougher ground at the work face, and the land along the Derwent is low-lying. We confirm ground bearing and outrigger positions, and use crane mats where needed.
- Road closures. Where a lift needs part of a road or pavement closed, we can arrange the traffic management and road closure with Derby City Council or Derbyshire County Council as part of the job.
Postcodes and areas we cover
We cover every DE postcode and the districts around the city:
- Derby: city centre, the Cathedral Quarter, Darley Abbey, Mickleover, Littleover, Allestree, Chaddesden, Spondon, Sinfin, Pride Park and Alvaston
- Derbyshire: Belper, Ripley, Heanor, Ilkeston, Wirksworth and Matlock
- South: Swadlincote, Burton-on-Trent and Barton-under-Needwood
- Wider area: Ashbourne, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Uttoxeter, Loughborough, Mansfield and Nottingham
Beyond Derby we also work across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and the rest of the east Midlands. See all the areas we cover.
Why Derby firms choose Synergy Lifting for crane hire
- Engineering work suits us. Machine moves, press installs and accurate positioning inside working buildings are the core of what we do.
- Shutdown and possession windows. Fixed start and finish times are normal for us, and we plan the crane, the route and the labour around them.
- Qualified and accredited. CPCS and NPORS operators, lifts planned to BS 7121, and a business certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, with Constructionline Gold Member registration.
- One contractor for the whole lift. We can take on the lift plan, appointed person, RAMS, supervision and insurance.
More than cranes
Many Derby jobs need more than a lift, so we also offer:
How to book a crane
- Send us the site location, load weight, access details and dates. Photos help.
- We quote, usually the same working day. Complex lifts may need a site visit first.
- For contract lifts we prepare the lift plan and RAMS. For CPA hire we advise on crane position and set-up.
- We arrive on the agreed day and carry out the lift to BS 7121.
Common questions
Can you move a machine across a factory floor?
Yes. Inside a building the answer is usually skates, rollers, air bearings or hydraulic jacking rather than a crane, with the crane handling the way in and out. Floor loading and the route between columns get checked first.
Can you place equipment to a fine tolerance?
Yes, and on aerospace and rail work that is the job. Tell us the tolerance you need and whether vibration matters and we’ll write the method to suit, rather than treating it as an ordinary lift.
Can you work inside a possession or a shutdown?
Yes. Fixed windows are normal for us. Give us the times and the lift details and we’ll plan the crane, the route and the set-up to fit, including out-of-hours working where the site needs it.
Get a quote for crane hire in Derby
- Phone: 01332 408 863
- Email: derby@synergy-lifting.co.uk
We also provide crane hire in Nottingham, Chesterfield, Leicester and Stoke. See all the areas we cover.