Boughton celebrates best ever year
Boughton Engineering returns to the annual Recycling & Waste Management Exhibition at Birmingham NEC this week having just completed the most successful year in its history, with core product sales stronger than at any time during the existence of the original company.
During the year, Skan Group Holdings, the private family group which owns the company, has restructured its engineering businesses – with Boughton Engineering becoming established as the lead brand and Oldbury UK becoming a specialist engineering and military products division within Boughton.
Group sales & marketing director, Steve Price attributes the success to the strengthening of existing relationships with the customer base, as well as establishing new ones.
“The market knows the Boughton product for its reliable and robust engineering, proven over time by operators through their own experience," he said: "The Boughton hook loader is now the preferred choice of most key operators and rental companies and occupies a market leadership position – with sales continuing to grow.
“The Power-Reach PR18 skip loader continues to gain share in the market, based on a reputation now earned and proven in operation – and with growing repeat order business pushing increased production. The range has now also expanded, notably with the PR12 – and whilst numbers remain small, customers recognise the advantage of product and inventory commonality across their fleets. The Boughton close coupled trailer now carries full type approval and orders have remained steady as some operators add to their fleets in order to optimise vehicle movements and payloads”.
Inside the show at RWM 2017, the company will display one of its standard Power-Reach PR18 skip loader units, part of a major order for North London waste operator, Powerday. Outside the main entrance piazza, Boughton will display the first production Front End Loader to be built as a result of the strategic partnership between Boughton Engineering and McNeilus of the US, to return the FEL product to the UK market.
“The new vehicle turns what is already an outstanding US product into a fully operational and compliant UK machine – with a number of units already on the order book, based on historical operating experience and reputation," said Steve Price.
“Some McNeilus units were supplied to major waste contractors and rental companies in the early 2000s – and some of those are still in operation today. From a Boughton point of view, the McNeilus FEL is perfectly complementary to our existing product range – and there are opportunities for us to grow the product portfolio going forward”.
During 2017, Boughton has rolled out a new cross company advanced IT system which now fully integrates all production and business processes, including linkage between the group’s expanding fabrication, manufacturing and production facilities – as well as after-market service and parts. The company has also expanded its facilities in North Devon and the West Midlands by over 10,000 sq. ft. and the workforce and staff levels have grown by over 20% over the period.
