British Steel bolsters fleet with £1.4m investment
Manufacturer British Steel has announced plans to invest £1.4m in a new fleet to support its UK distribution operation.
The company is set to add 11 tractor units and seven rigid vehicles to its fleet in Spring 2019.
British Steel said it expects the new vehicles “improve the ability of our metal centres to supply a wide-range of constructional steel products and services to businesses of all sizes, from major developers to local housebuilders.”
British Steel’s metal centres stock a range of constructional steel products including sections, bars, angles, channels, plate, sheet, mesh, flooring and hand railing. They also offer a range of further processing facilities including shot-blasting, painting and cutting to length so products can be tailored to customers’ requirements.
Richard Farnsworth, British Steel’s managing director of construction, said: “Our regional metal centres provide customers with a quick and convenient way of buying a wide range of steel products and a first-class fleet is central to our strategy of becoming the supplier of choice to this country’s construction industry.
“The vehicles, coupled with our extensive stock range, will enable us to meet customer needs with next-day delivery in the immediate area while customers can also still make their own collections.”
The fleet is being supplied to British Steel through the Thomas’s Group, a family-run commercial vehicle business based in Birmingham. The vehicles, which will serve customers across the South East, Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber regions, are being supplied by DAF Trucks Ltd.
Malcolm Robbins, British Steel construction’s logistics manager distribution UK, said: “We’re committed to improving our service to current and new customers across the network, and this investment will play a significant role in helping us achieve this.
“We recently visited Leyland Trucks in Lancashire to see one of our liveried DAF vehicles on the production line and it’s exciting to know the new fleet will soon be delivering our steel products across the country.”
Jason Horobin, Thomas’s Group managing director, added: “We are immensely proud to be associated with such an iconic British name within the steel industry and look forward to working very closely together for many years to come.”
Phil Moon, Marketing Manager, DAF Trucks Ltd, also said: “DAF Trucks is honoured to be supplying vehicles to British Steel to work in their operation. To have some of the team from British Steel visit Leyland Trucks to see the new vehicles in production was great for both parties.
“Operators visiting the Leyland facility in Lancashire enjoy seeing their vehicles being assembled in the state-of-the-art facility, and we at DAF always learn more about the product and service needs of our customers. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship.”
