JCB secures £50m supply order from UK plant hire group
STAFFORDSHIRE excavator manufacturer JCB has won one of its biggest ever single orders in a deal worth more than £50m.
The order has been placed by one of the UK’s largest plant hire firms, A-Plant, which is a frequent customer of the Rocester firm.
The order is for the supply of more than 1,550 JCB machines and it comes on the back of a £35m supply deal placed last year for more than 1,000 machines.
The latest deal also marks a major milestone for A-Plant as it now means the company has bought 10,000 machines from JCB since its first border 25 years ago. The latest products are now rolling off production lines across JCB’s operations and delivery will continue throughout 2015.
JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “This is order is very significant as it is one of the largest JCB has ever won. We are delighted that A-Plant has chosen JCB to supply such an extensive range of products.”
The deal is good news for JCB’s Staffordshire factories in Rocester, Uttoxeter and Cheadle which will manufacture the micro, mini and midi excavators, Loadall telescopic handlers and tracked excavators which have been ordered.
A-Plant is also buying a fleet of JCB site dumpers which were launched earlier this year. All the machines are being supplied by JCB dealer Greenshields JCB.
Asif Latief, A-Plant marketing director said: “This is the biggest order A-Plant has ever placed for JCB equipment and this substantial investment in new JCB machines signals our intent to offer our customers one of the youngest fleets in the industry.”
A-Plant, which is part of FTSE-100 company Ashtead Group, is one of the UK’s largest equipment rental companies with over 135 service centres in Britain, more than 2,700 employees nationwide and over 30,000 customers in the construction, industrial, commercial, utility, public sector, homeowner and events markets.
