Hirepool's North Island operations were hard-hit in December and January by a series of thefts of trucks, cars, excavators and trucks, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In a mid-February memo to staff obtained by the ODT, Hirepool chief operating officer Colin Sinton said the stolen items, largely from Auckland and Wellington outlets, were likely to have had their Hirepool branding removed.
''All of these items have been reported to the police as stolen,'' Mr Sinton said.
He urged staff not not to approach anyone or to try to recover the property themselves, but to report it to police, or consulting company Resolvit, which was assisting with the investigation and asset recovery.
When contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Sinton said the stolen property list was a North Island issue, and there was no similar South Island list in circulation.
He described the list of 54 stolen items, of which 13 are noted as recovered, as being a ''one-off'' issue for the North Island, but he declined to give further details, saying police investigation were continuing.
Asked if the thefts might be related to the Auckland boom in housing and infrastructure, or Canterbury's massive rebuild, he said ''no''.
There have been recent reports of widespread thefts of tradesmen's tools, construction equipment and material around Christchurch and the stolen equipment being resold back to the construction sector.
Last week a $30,000 stolen digger was recovered by police, followed by $20,000 of stolen tools, and this week, a trailer and construction material worth $30,000 was recovered.
The lost Hirepool equipment ranges from chainsaws, chippers and waterblasters to 12 Ford and Toyota four-wheel-drive trucks, two Toyota cars, 1.5-tonne rubber-track excavators, numerous large trailers and 2.5-tonne Hino and Isuzu tipper trucks.
Resolvit was contacted for comment, but did not return calls. A manager at Hirepool in Dunedin declined to comment, when contacted.
Christchurch police said while the construction industry was making a concerted effort to secure property by erecting fences and installing CCTV cameras and alarms, tradesmen's vehicles and on-site containers in remote locations were an easy target.
• Hirepool was bought for $172 million in 2006 and is majority-owned by Sydney-based private equity company Next Capital and its co-investor Macquarie Group.
In 2012 it bought Dunedin-based competitor HireQuip, after it went into receivership owing banks $117 million, and is now the country's largest hire company, with 67 outlets.
In mid-2013 Hirepool launched an initial public offering of up to $262 million, but in a surprise move, cancelled it a week later.
Hirepool missing in action list . . .
•Toyota Hilux 4WD double cab, executive
• Toyota Hilux 4WD double cab, flatdeck
• Toyota Hilux 4WD single cab, flatdeck
• 4 x Toyota Hilux 4WD double cab, canopy
• 2 x Ford Ranger 4WD double cab, flatdeck
• 2 x Toyota Corolla, hatchback
• Ford Focus, hatchback
• Isuzu 2.5-tonne tipper truck
• Hino 2.5-tonne tipper truck
• 2 x rubbertrack excavators, 1.5 tonne.
• Other: Compressors, 5 trailers, chainsaws, compactors, weed eaters, leaf blower, waterblasters, chippers, heaters, grinders/cutters, mower, scrub cutter, concrete saw, excavator buckets
• Excavator 1.9-tonne
SOURCE: HIREPOOL MEMO
