Ainscough Crane Hire

Ainscough Crane Hire Ltd is a British lifting services provider headquartered in Standish, near Wigan, Greater Manchester. Established in 1976, it is the largest mobile crane hire and lifting solution company in the United Kingdom. As of 2024, Ainscough operates from around 25 depots nationwide and has a fleet of nearly 400 mobile, crawler and heavy-lift cranes. The company provides lifting services to the construction, infrastructure, energy and industrial sectors.

It expanded through acquisitions during the 1980s and 1990s and later underwent a buyout in 2007, ending family ownership. After a period of private-equity ownership and financial restructuring in the late 2010s, Ainscough undertook fleet investment in the early 2020s and reported a return to profitability, following several years of losses.