associate

customer service representative

maintenance technician

traffic manager

apprentice mechanic

Sunbelt-Rentals-UK

A typical day as a traffic management operative at Sunbelt rentals involves waking up ridiculously early and returning home ridiculously late often 4am-9pm 6-7 days a week. You can think you will finish at regular time 5pm but then at the last minute they’ll throw 2 more jobs on you and pressure you to go and do them if you refuse things will be made very difficult for you. Remember all you have to do is refuse once in your career and then it’s all down hill from there. When your on lates as they call it which happens once every 3-4 weeks you are obligated to work when they tell you therefore if you refuse a job after hours ( even if you’ve already done a 15 hour day ) they will take this to disciplinary proceedings. There is no work life balance here nor can you plan anything on weekends or your evenings. You will cancel all your plans, lose friends and quite possibly your marriage. The training is minimal and your expected to know how to install traffic lights with traffic flying at you from both ways at over 70mph. Management is a complete dictatorship which fiddles driver hours to suit the needs of the company breaking the law and putting workers and the public in danger. For the sake of everything going good in your life right now avoid this company. If your life is not going well right now then still avoid because it won’t get better here. Now that’s an honest review. 

Not a bad place to work some old school values still there as we are companies joined into one now it can sometimes get tedious with when we was this and that company was this with people who you would think should be grateful for employment and more grown up .
Some tittle tattlers too and different shifts competing which Is humourous at times.
Pay could be better especially with what licences you achieve and outside companies pay higher.
Many people come and go but normally return further down the line as it's a job which draws you back time and time again.
From music festivals like Leeds and reading and Glastonbury to Wimbledon truck fest Hampton court Chelsea flower show to name a few to national grid power lines and solar farms to schools and prisons it is a  job of many different identities.
But like all companies the bigger it gets it loses its family values and sometimes you seem to be just a number on a computer.
Not all is bad it was a stop gap for me and 2 decades later in still doing the same job.
I have seen and worked in Europe and and the whole of England Scotland and Wales done movie sets and met famous singers and film cast members to the less glamourous muddy wet jobs but if you like the outdoors and enjoy a challenge it's a job that carries satisfaction and memories and laughter along the way.


Working at Sunbelt has been an incredibly positive experience. The office culture is built around collaboration, making it a great place to work if you value teamwork and open communication. From day one, I felt welcomed and supported by my colleagues and managers, who are always willing to lend a hand or share their expertise.

One of the standout features of this company is the emphasis on collaboration. Whether it's through regular team meetings, brainstorming sessions, or just casual conversations over lunch, everyone is encouraged to contribute ideas and work together toward common goals. This sense of teamwork has not only made my job more enjoyable but has also led to creative solutions and faster problem-solving.

The office environment is friendly and inclusive, with a genuine effort to make everyone feel valued. There’s a real sense of camaraderie among employees. Managers prioritize the well-being of their team members, and there’s a strong focus on personal and professional growth.

In addition to the collaborative atmosphere, the company also fosters a culture of recognition. Achievements, both big and small, are celebrated, and there’s a constant drive to support one another in reaching our goals.

Working at sunbelt rentals has been a great opportunity and feel appreciated within the company. The role itself as a Traffic management operative is great, working outdoors, travel provided by company to work / job site and return to home should you wish to take company vehicle home. The job is not difficult, and provided you are working safely and adhering to company policies and legislation, management leave you to your own devices. Overtime opportunities are mostly plentiful. Sometimes the work hours can be long, but to some, like myself, appreciate the long hours for overtime opportunities. There is a weekend rota and generally work 1 Saturday and 1 Sunday per month (not together) unless you request for extra weekend shift(s). Colleagues at work are also great and find myself laughing regularly with the friendly banter. I would recommend the role to friends and family

I can only speak about my experience I had in the  Utilities department at Sunbeltrentals.
Low pay compared to other companies.
High turn over of staff.
No pay structure.
Not allowed to talk about pay as different pay in different depots people on different wages doing the same work. 
Health and safety is very poor, lack of reporting incidents, no follow ups by company health and safety. Staff safety is compromised, welding soldering no extraction,
Environmental issues.
Substandard equipment maintenance, as poor training, product training etc.
 No time given to complete tasks, so no job satisfaction.
 Not enough staff in depots to do the work properly,
Poor Management, lack of experience, no safety or leadership training, no team spirit.
Not a very nice environment to work because you don't really feel part of a multi billion profit making business.
 I can see the culture changing in other areas of sunbelt but not at all in this department, could be something great if the effort was put in from higher management, to rid to the old structure.



Despite the companies attempts at a rebrand and to try fix various issues in management and pay, it's still a very poorly run, and incredibly low paid job compared to similar in the sector.

Training is bare minimum, overtime is expected and then docked if more than they want to pay, management scrimps on essential items like replacement kit and PPE to help reach their bonus targets.

Management are rewarded for spending as little money as possible, so for the UK's largest TM company to have the worst kit on the road, says alot.

No appreciation for the work you do, no understanding for a work to home life balance, no offer to work from home during lockdown. 

IT dept take forever and a day to get even the simplest tasks completed, even after being chased on a daily basis. 

Looked at like scum when new uniform is required. 

Depots aren't ever cleaned, canteens are filthy, as are the toilets. 

Sunbelt need to open their eyes, stop thinking purely about profit and realise that the mass exodus of staff isn't going to fix itself if they keep looking the other way. 



Some absolutely brilliant people on the team and immediate management were kind and supportive for the most part.  However there was a lot to learn on the fly without nearly enough supervision. There was a distinct lack of useful and common sense tools like satnavs for the HGVs and basic BASIC things like power tools both of which would have saved a huge amount of time getting to jobs and completing physical tasks on site. There was a real disconnect between local management and the corporate structure as a whole. Chasing pay or paperwork mistakes was problematic and hugely time consuming despite them having an app for EVERYTHING. It was frustrating at times. And ultimately the pay was extremely low. I made more as a labourer before joining the company and despite promises of increases these never materialised. The company has probably one of the worst standards of pay by comparison to virtually any other competitor in the market. 

Where do I even begin? From my perspective as a fitter, working at Sunbelt is generally straightforward. Most of the machines are new and under warranty, which makes the job easier. However, the pay is tremendously low, ranging from £28k to £30k per year, and there’s little to no opportunity for career advancement or even recognition. It makes it even worse when the company gloats how rich it is although their employees can’t relate in the slightest with some scraping the living wage. It’s to no surprise they struggle to hire fitters, given the poor compensation not forgetting I’ve seen 3 leave in the space of 2 months. Staff morale is beyond rock bottom, with many feeling undervalued and unappreciated. The company culture is very clique-driven, so if you don’t fit into the right group, you’re unlikely to last more than a month. Honestly, unless you’re in HR or a management role making £50k+ with a company car, it’s probably not worth your time. I usually expect to see such things at smaller depots but when you’re at the main branch, it shows the companies real ethos as a whole. 

Very poor company, with no progression or pay rises, massive profits and bonuses for managers nothing for fitters etc. Would avoid at all costs, over worked and underpaid. Safety policy’s don’t apply to managers, near miss incidents swept under carpet for management. Overtime expected/ to make up wage. Laughed out of the office when asking for pay increase’s. 

Serious lack of mental health awareness. Staff members told to leave on a daily basis and that they don’t have a gun to their heads (deputy manager)  rather than constructive talks. 7+ employees at Chadderton handed their notice in within 4 weeks of each other. Made to take holidays for attending Funerals, Shocking lack of empathy and personal touch.  

No active management skills asking the right questions. So long as the money is rolling and massive profits. Who cares for the xxx number employees who are struggling to make ends meet. 

You have been warned. 

The company has recently seen a complete change in senior management. All the senior management now seem to be from Speedy Hire. They seem to look down on existing staff and processes. This has left long term A Plant Personnel feeling worthless. In addition any new management or good jobs are filled with “mates” before they are even advertised. 

They shout about how well they did throughout the COVID 19 furlough period. In reality operational staff were put at risk while senior management and sales personnel stayed at home. 

The local workforce are second to none within my region and I can’t thank my depot manager enough. He is put under a huge amount of pressure without having the resources to complete safety critical tasks. 

Staff are left in the dark when it comes to future plans and are all currently fearing mass redundancy due to the change in structure. 



Top Job Titles	Average salary
Associate 2 salaries reported	£30,000 per year
Customer service representative 11 salaries reported	£28,886 per year
Maintenance technician 97 salaries reported	£26,605 per year
Traffic manager 1 salary reported	£29,390 per year
Apprentice mechanic 8 salaries reported	£16,750 per year

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