09.06.2009

Bouncing back from vandalism

When intruders broke into the Waterlooville premises of Hampshire based industrial engineering, spider crane and heavy lifting specialists FSR Maintenance, the caused more than £20,000 of damage.

The directors initially feared that it would have a devastating impact on their business, a total of five vehicles were rendered un-roadworthy by the vandals and two FSR trucks with loader cranes, which were fitted with immobilisers, were broken into, their windscreens and windows smashed and their dashboards and steering electrics ripped out.

The fenced compound gates were severely damaged and other light commercial vehicles were targeted by the intruders.

Specialist truck dealer, MV Commercial, stepped into the breach delivering two replacement trucks within 12 hours. The temporary vehicles provided the firm with improved capacity, larger engines and newer chassis.

“By five the same day, not only did we have a solution to our predicament, but we had what amounted to a better and more capable business ” said FSR’s joint owner and director Mark Roberts
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Mark Roberts with one of the replacement trucks.

MV Commercial sourced the replacement vehicles from the fleet at its Leighton Buzzard depot. Both of the replacement trucks came equipped with front mounted 40-tonne capacity cranes and trailer couplings.

One was fitted with a hydraulically extendable flat-bed to cater for oversized loads, while the second included fully-folding two part hydraulic ramps leaving the full bed length available for loads which include its fleet of spider cranes which trade under the Cranes2u brand.

“I simply do not understand what motivates such senseless vandalism and lack of respect for the property and livelihood of others,” says Roberts.

“We had been at the start of a prestigious installation contract at a new power station on the Isle of Grain, Kent. Our clients were surprised and impressed by our ability to recover so quickly from this setback”, he added.

“Business interruption costs could have been in the order of £80,000, if it were not for the excellent response from our insurance brokers, Greenfield Insurance Services and a fantastic service from MV Commercial. Talk about strength in the face of adversity!”