01.10.2025

William ‘Bill’ Norman Green 1942-2025

We have the very sad news that crane UK crane industry veteran Bill Green has died.

He passed away on Sunday 28th September having struggled with his health in recent years, he was 83. He leaves behind his wife Pam and two children Wendy and Steve, along with five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Born in Ipswich, Suffolk in 1942, he started his career as an engineering apprentice at UK crane and equipment manufacturer Ransome & Rapier, working on the crane product lines. During his time with the company, he was sent out to Hong Kong for six months to supervise the installation of a sluice gate.
In the mid to late 1960s he left Ransomes & Rapier and the crane industry for Bostich selling staplers and staples. In 1969 he won the company’s Salesman of the Year award, having clearly discovered that selling was his metier.

He then returned to Ransomes but in a crane sales role rather than manufacturing and did very well, to the point that he was noticed by other crane manufacturers, leading to him being recruited by Oxford based Grove UK, to cover one its larger territories in central and southern England. He remained with the company through numerous changes and management regimes, including the acquisition of Coles in 1985, its acquisition by Hanson in 1987 and Keystone in 1998.

That same year he decided to branch out on his own and set up PLC Sales – which stood for Previously Loved Crane Sales. He bought and sold used cranes, in 2002 he also sold new Effer loader cranes with Rob Gilbert trading as Effer UK and later acted as an independent agent for Amco Veba loader cranes, using the contacts he had in the industry.

In 2007 he heard that we were looking at setting up Vertikal Days and played an important role in bringing Tadano’s UK dealer - Cranes UK and its owner Joe Lyon - on board which provided encouragement for the others. He was an ardent supporter in those early years becoming an exhibitor in his own right.
A major change also came in 2007 when he spotted an outrigger mats producer at bauma in Germany. On discovering that the company had no distribution in the UK, he negotiated an exclusive dealership for the UK, and his business really took off. He continued to build the business until accepting a takeover offer from IPS in 2013 but remained on board as a consultant to the new owners, finally retiring properly in 2016.

However, it was not all work and no play, he loved fishing, angling if you prefer, no matter what type:- deep sea fishing, course fishing in rivers and lakes, he just loved to fish and travelling every year with industry friends, including Tony Mort, jim Daintith and others. We covered a number of their escapades from following in Hemmingway’s footsteps in Jardines de la Rheina 60 miles off the coast of Cuba in 2006, and in 2010 to the Kola Peninsula of northern Russia in 2007, and the Agua Boa river, in the Amazon basin in 2011.

Bill Green was one of a kind, seeming to carry a perpetual smile and so often see the funny side of things. He was good company, always professional, serious when necessary and extremely knowledgeable. He retained his contacts for the entirety of his life and managed to keep his finger on the pulse of the UK crane industry. He would often drop us a message tipping us off on an interesting development.

He will be remembered by many and missed by most.