Interview: Groundforce targets Europe with hydraulic props

Murray Pollok Managing Editor, IRN & Director of Content, KHL

02 July 2026

Groundforce is one of the specialist rental divisions within UK company VP plc. It supplies hydraulic propping technology for foundation projects throughout Europe, with a fleet of more than 1000 props and around 320 staff. International Rental News and Rental Briefing caught up with James Burchell, who was appointed global major projects director earlier this year.

IRN: You spent 26 years with Groundforce and then worked for a spell with a piling contractor in the UK, and have now returned to Groundforce?
James Burchell: Yes, it was a good sabbatical, I would say, going and working for a contractor, understanding things from the other side of…

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Murray Pollok Editor, International Rental News Tel: +44 (0)1505 850043 E-mail: [email protected]
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