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Crane hire in Reading and the Thames Valley
We provide crane hire in Reading, where a great deal of the lifting is building services and critical infrastructure rather than heavy industry. The M4 corridor carries one of the densest concentrations of offices and data centres in the country, and most of the work is plant going onto or into buildings that cannot be switched off.
We supply mobile cranes with operators, and we plan and run full contract lifts, across Reading, Green Park, Theale, Calcot, Winnersh, Bracknell, Wokingham, Newbury, Basingstoke, Maidenhead and Slough. 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 Reading jobs
| Crane type | Capacity / reach | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| All-terrain mobile crane | From 40t to 1,000t | Major infrastructure, heavy plant and large structures |
| City crane / pick and carry | From 5t to 60t | Office courtyards, plant rooms and restricted yards |
| Mobile tower crane | Up to 60m | Tight sites needing height and reach without a fixed tower crane |
| Tower crane | Luffing, flat top and self-erecting | Longer construction programmes and restricted town-centre sites |
Tell us the weight, radius and access for your Reading 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 Reading
Most of our Reading crane hire work falls into a handful of sectors.
Data centres and critical infrastructure
The M4 corridor is one of the biggest data centre clusters in Europe, and the lifting for it is chillers, generators, transformers and switchgear, into live facilities, inside a window that is fixed, short and cannot overrun. See our data centre infrastructure page.
Offices and building services
Green Park, the town centre and the business parks along the corridor mean constant plant replacement on occupied offices: chillers and air handling units onto roofs, plant room equipment in and out, usually overnight or at a weekend so tenants are undisturbed. See our HVAC sector page.
Rail at a major junction
Reading is one of the busiest railway junctions in the country, and work there fits inside a possession with exact start and finish times, clearances and overhead line isolations agreed well in advance. See our rail sector page.
Industrial estates and manufacturing
Theale, Calcot, Winnersh and the estates around the town hold engineering, technology and trade operations. Typical jobs are machinery deliveries and installs, factory moves and plant removals. See our industrial sector page.
Hospitals, universities and schools
Chiller and air handling unit replacement, scanner and laboratory equipment moves and modular building lifts, on sites that stay open or during a vacation shutdown. See our healthcare and pharma and education sector pages.
Construction and riverside development
Residential, student and commercial schemes across the town and along the Thames bring steel erection, precast, glazing and rooftop plant, often on small plots with a single access point. See our construction sector page.
Access and planning for lifts in Reading
Every site is different, but a few things come up again and again on Reading jobs:
- Getting there. The M4 at junctions 10 to 12 serves the town, with the A33, A329(M) and A4 feeding in. The corridor is congested for much of the day, so timing matters as much as the route and we plan both before we quote.
- Live facilities. Data centres and occupied offices set the window, not us. Permits, escorts, exclusion zones and a hard finish time all get agreed in advance, and the lift is planned backwards from them.
- Rail possessions. Work near the station or the lines needs clearances and usually an isolation, which has its own lead time at a junction this busy.
- Ground conditions. Land along the Thames and the Kennet is low-lying with made ground in places, and business park service yards often sit over drainage and ducting. 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 Reading Borough Council or the neighbouring councils as part of the job.
Postcodes and areas we cover
We cover every RG postcode and the districts around the town:
- Reading: town centre, Caversham, Tilehurst, Whitley, Green Park, Earley and Woodley
- West: Theale, Calcot, Pangbourne, Thatcham and Newbury
- East and south: Winnersh, Wokingham, Bracknell, Crowthorne and Basingstoke
- Wider area: Maidenhead, Slough, Henley, Oxford, Swindon and west London
Beyond Reading we also work across Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and into London. See all the areas we cover.
Why Reading firms choose Synergy Lifting for crane hire
- Live buildings and hard deadlines. Data centre and occupied office work has a fixed window and no tolerance for overrun, and that is how we plan it.
- Out-of-hours as standard. A large share of the work here runs overnight or at a weekend, with lighting, marshalling and noise conditions planned in.
- 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 Reading 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 lift into a live data centre?
Yes. It means permits, escorts, an exclusion zone and a hard finish time, all agreed before the date. Tell us the unit weights, the position and the window and we’ll plan the lift backwards from it.
Can you replace rooftop plant on an occupied office?
Yes, and it is most of what we do here. Weekend and overnight slots keep tenants and car parks in use during the week, and the standing position and exclusion zone get agreed with building management first.
Can you work near the station?
Yes, with the clearances and any isolation agreed in advance. At a junction this busy the possession is the constraint, so the earlier we know the dates the better.
Get a quote for crane hire in Reading
- Phone: 0800 008 6096
- Email: reading@synergy-lifting.co.uk
We also provide crane hire in Oxford, London, Luton and Milton Keynes. See all the areas we cover.