Pentalver has announced a further investment in its materials handling resources after concluding a new £5 million deal with asset management and engineering services specialist Briggs Plant Equipment for Plant Machinery. One of the UK’s foremost providers of container-related services, Pentalver is adding 19 new Hyster machines to its fleet following a detailed tender process involving an in-depth assessment of the marketplace and potential suppliers. The new machines will complement the existing 22 Hyster container handlers – successfully introduced by Briggs in 2015 – which boosted the Pentalver group’s container handling capabilities across its terminals at Cannock, Felixstowe, Southampton, Tilbury and London Gateway. As well as representing a significant commitment to the group’s future business expansion plans, the investment also underlines Pentalver’s confidence in Briggs Equipment, which will supply, maintain and manage the fleet, as Managing Director Chris Lawrenson outlined. He said: “Reliability is crucial to our success. Our customers rely on us and we, in turn, need to be able to rely on our Plant Machinery suppliers. Briggs Equipment continues to impress us with the scope of its capabilities. “Briggs Equipment continues to impress us with the scope of its capabilities, high standards of customer service and commitment to helping us achieve our commercial objectives. This, combined with the quality and durability of the Hyster product and the advice and assistance available from Hyster’s support teams, gives us real confidence for the future.” Scheduled for delivery throughout 2017, the new Hyster equipment comprises 13 dedicated empty container handlers, specified in both single and double lift variations capable of stacking containers six high, and six Hyster RS4531CH laden reachstackers. Eight of the machines will be put to work at Pentalver’s Felixstowe terminal and six will go to Southampton while the Tilbury and Cannock operations will take delivery of three and two machines respectively. All machines will be fitted with Hyster Tracker to ensure optimum fleet and operator performance while also maximising asset utilisation. Briggs will manage the service support contract using its market-leading asset management tool BE Portal, which provides total transparency and supports top level decision-making to improve fleet management and enhance workplace safety. Acknowledged for taking a lead role in improving industry safety, Pentalver has worked closely with Briggs Equipment to ensure its operators adhere to best practice. Featuring enhancements to container locking plus additional cameras, the new container handlers and reachstackers are specified to make safety the number one priority, when drivers are at the controls and away from the container stacks. Paul Giles, Ports and Terminals Business Development Manager at Briggs Equipment, said: “During the past 18 months our dedicated account managers, customer contract managers and regional service managers have worked in partnership with Pentalver to help drive up productivity by ensuring maximum utilisation of its Hyster Plant Machinery equipment. “We take a unique approach to meeting the requirements of port operators and freight handling businesses and this important new contract showcases our ability to support what is a critical business sector for the UK.” Pentalver’s operations include four of the UK’s main ports and an inland depot in the heart of the Midlands. As a result of expansion during the past 20 years, Pentalver has established itself as a key provider of innovative container solutions to customers across the UK.  Caption: Container services specialist Pentalver has reinforced its partnership with Briggs Equipment with a new £5million contract involving the supply of Hyster equipment and asset management support.

Hiab, part of Cargotec, has received an order for several HIAB L-HiPro 145 cranes from Wincanton Plc, a leading third-party logistics and supply chain solutions provider in the UK and Ireland. The value of the order is around EUR 1 million and it has been booked into Cargotec’s 2016 fourth quarter order intake for plant machines. The HIAB L-HiPro 145 belongs to the HIAB medium range of loader cranes and is a new model which is tailor-made for building material supply. The HIAB L-HiPro 145 cranes have a lifting capacity up to 15tm. The cranes are painted according to the high-tech nDurance(TM) painting process to safeguard a long life and a good looking crane over time. Three of the cranes will be equipped with Crane Tip Control (CTC), a software feature which Hiab brought into market in September 2016. With the CTC feature the crane operator controls the behaviour of the crane tip instead of each crane function (slewing, first boom, second boom, extensions). We need to have plant equipment that we can trust to deliver. “Our market-leading construction team delivers over 400,000 loads to construction and building sites across the UK and Ireland every year. To ensure the operational improvements across our customers’ supply chain we need to have plant equipment that we can trust to deliver. HIAB loader cranes have answered to this need over the years,” says Mr Carl Hanson, Fleet Director, Wincanton Plc. “We have been Wincanton’s supplier for loader cranes and maintenance since 2006. Over the years we have built up a first-class business partnership, in particular the UK Engineering team who have worked closely with Wincanton to deliver solutions to their operational requirements which have resulted in the delivery of a large number of HIAB loader cranes. We are pleased to be able continue this cooperation with this latest valuable order,” says Mr John Bailey, Director, Global Key Accounts, Hiab. The new HIAB loader cranes will be delivered during the first quarter of 2017. Hiab offers its loader cranes customers a five-year warranty on structural components as well as a general warranty of two years. The extended warranty covers all HIAB loader crane models delivered as of 1 October 2016.

Production is underway at a new £400,000 ready mixed concrete plant at Lynemouth in Northumberland. The new facility is the second to be opened in just 18 months by H-Mix at Lynefield Park, the site of the former Alcan aluminium smelter, which is now owned by Harworth Group plc, one of the largest property and regeneration companies in the UK. The new plant for H-Mix will see the firm double its production capacity to more than 500 cubic metres of concrete – around 1,200 tonnes – per day.  Managing director John Hudson says the business is now ideally placed to win new business while continuing to serve its existing customers. “We really haven’t looked back since opening our first production facility at Lynefield Park in May 2015,” explained John.  “Security of supply is critical to our customers so the new plant provides important back-up to the first.  It also provides us with the capability to tender for the new business opportunities that will come on the back of the growth in house building, commercial property and other infrastructure investments that are being made across the North East.” With the new plant in production, John’s targets for 2017 include doubling his workforce to 12, taking on an apprentice and investing in additional delivery vehicles. One of the main customers for H-mix is its Lynefield Park neighbour, Lynx Precast, which makes beams for flooring in the construction of homes, offices and public buildings.  Other businesses operating on the 320 acre site include C&J Marine, which is involved with caravan disposal and storage and construction firm Sisk. And Paul Scott, a former Alcan employee, has returned to the site to set up a business recycling wooden pallets. Aluminium production ended at Lynemouth in March 2012 and Harworth Group took over the site in April 2015.   Since then, some of the smelter’s buildings have been demolished including the eight distinctive potroom chimneys, while others have been retained for alternative commercial uses. We’re making good progress Harworth Group director, Eddie Peat, said:  “We’re making good progress on the redevelopment of the site and H-Mix’s investment in a second facility here provides a very clear example of what ambitious businesses can achieve at Lynefield Park. “This is an ideal location for business growth and Harworth Group is committed to attracting high-value, secure employment back to the site.” Businesses interested in the opportunities at Lynefield Park should contact Harworth Group’s retained agents who are Cushman & Wakefield (telephone Richard Scott on 0191 223 5711) and HTA (telephone Nick Atkinson on 0191 245 1234).