01.03.2009

Cranes UK to launch at Vertikal Days

UK and Ireland Tadano distributor Cranes UK will be back at Vertikal Days this year and hoping to unveil new cranes at the show. Vertikal.Net spoke to managing director Joe Lyon about the new products and the future of the business he founded.

Lyon said that the company hoped to be able to bring Tadano Faun’s new ATF130G-5 130 tonne All Terrain crane with 60 metre six section main boom to Vertikal Days. The crane is due to be shown to a few customers visiting the company’s plant in Lauf over the next few weeks.
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The Tadano Faun ATF130G-5

The second new crane to be launched this year will be the 70 tonne truck mounted HK70, which will essentially take the existing superstructure from the ATF 65G-4 and mount it on a five axle commercial carrier. It will feature the same 44 metre main boom with up to 61 metres maximum tip height as the ATF.
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The Tadano Faun HK70

Lyon also spoke about his plans for the business which he founded after moving from South Africa in 2002. The company moved to spacious new premises in South Yorkshire around two and a half years ago and employs 20.

He says that while business, in terms of order intake, has slowed and the strong Euro does not make it any easier, the company has had a number of good years and is in good shape to make the most of the slow down. The focus has been to step up the after sales support efforts in order to cope with the growing population of Tadano cranes in the UK and Ireland.

Lyon says that he seriously looked at selling the business last year, mainly because he was approaching 60 and with a strong market and balance sheet it looked like a great time to sell. But while there were some expressions of interest he did not find a suitable buyer. He said “when I sell it is important to find someone who will continue what we have built up here, an owner that will look after the team and our customers.”

“The situation now is very different, the likelihood of a buyer coming along during these uncertain economic times who is willing to pay a decent price is remote. The business also needs a steady, experienced and committed hand at the helm.”

“The chances of finding someone that can meet these two criteria at the moment is so unlikely that it is completely off my radar for now.”

“Once we have passed through this period and are out the other side I will of course look at the situation again, after all I won’t last forever and am keen to have a long and active retirement. I wanted to start considering a succession plan early so that I wouldn’t feel under pressure to sell. If I had started the planning when I was 65 to 70, the decision to put the project on the back burner as we have now done, would have been a far more difficult one.”

“I expect to be leading and growing this business, with the focus on nudging our market share towards my 25 percent target, for at least a further three or four years. So any suggestions of me selling up are way out of date.”