20.10.2025

Dewsbury & Proud acquires Ellis

UK crane rental company Dewsbury & Proud has acquired Gloucestershire, U, based Ellis Crane Hire from the Ellis family.

The changes were all formalised last Thursday – October 16th – with Tim and Jack Proud taking over as company directors from Simon, Irene and Bill Ellis. However, Simon Ellis and his team will remain on board, with no major changes planned. Tim Proud said: Ellis Crane Hire is an established brand with a great team, and we want to retain the name, the colours, the people and the sites. We can of course add extra support when needed.”

Based in the village of Brookthorpe on the south side of Gloucester, Ellis Crane Hire was established by Bill Ellis in 1986 with a Kato NK 140 truck crane and formally incorporated in 2003. Although Ellis started out on his own in 1982 erecting prefabricated buildings and bought the first crane to help with his main business but soon began carryon out work for others, and somewhere along the way realised that this was a better business. Today Ellis has had a fleet of around 10 cranes ranging from aluminium truck cranes up to a four axle 90 tonner. Total assets are around £3.2 million with a tangible net worth of £1.1 million. No details of the transaction have been disclosed.

Dewsbury & Proud was founded in 1977, by Anthony Proud and Jeremy Dewsbury, and is based in Wolverhampton, with additional depots in Loughborough, Coventry and Stoke-On-Trent. The new location will add to company’s network in the English midlands. In last year’s Top 30 UK rental companies Dewsbury & Proud reported a fleet of 50 cranes, 38 All Terrains - the largest being a five axle 250 tonne All Terrain - four pick & carry cranes and eight spider and mini crawler cranes. In its 2024 account, the company had assets of 17.9 million, with a tangible net worth of £9.73 million.

This move is likely to make Dewsbury & Proud the seventh largest crane rental company in the UK or Ireland.