Quarter 2 2012
In the pipeline
Special Scottish supplement
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Contents
Building Bridges This edition has a strong emphasis on Scotland, a Celtic country with a proud history and tradition. Ireland and England feature too, of course. The Romans had trouble with the Scots, so the emperor Hadrian built a large wall. At Pirtek, we build bridges so that the Pirtek network operates seamlessly across borders. Historically, Scotland has been an outward-looking country; James V1th of Scotland became King of England and Wales, Scottish entrepreneurs founded the major trading houses Swire and Jardine Matheson in Hongkong, international investment management companies operate successfully today
SkyHigh Having plucked up the courage to fling himself out of a perfectly good aircraft at 12,000 feet after a friend said he was going to take part in a sponsored skydive, Craig Smith from the Pirtek Racing Team had to wait a full month when his first attempt was cancelled due to high winds. He eventually got to do his dive for Pirtek's chosen charity for the treatment of prostate cancer, however, although he confesses that he doesn’t really like heights. "It was really cold up there but it was an excellent day out. Totally brilliant. I'd love to take it up full time but it would clash with the new racing season." Talking of BTCC, watch out for 'Team Gorgeous' or the crew from Pirtek Ellesmere Port, headed up by centre manager 'Big Paul' Johnson. The team has threatened to turn up at as many of the BTCC meetings in
from Glasgow and Edinburgh. So whatever the result of the current Scottish debate on Independence, Pirtek will operate seamlessly for its customers. We show here examples of Pirtek working with Scottish companies, large and small, locally, regionally and UK wide, to provide excellent service and support on hydraulic issues from the Pirtek network of centres, wherever and whenever it is needed. The examples here show the breadth of economic activity in Scotland across multiple industries; from recycling through construction and transport to plant hire and airport services. It is good to
their infamous pink tutus and black leotards as possible. Johnson says they have new costumes to help optimise TV coverage. Not content with raising the Racing Team's profile, Paul and the team are also planning a charity zip slide across the Clyde on March 24th.
see our Pirtek customers show a positive approach as the recession lightens and growth returns. The examples from all countries show a focus on service. We are all, English, Welsh Scottish and Irish justly proud of our national traits and traditions. We are equally proud of our Pirtek tradition of excellence in serving our customers. Best regards
Kelvin Roberts Chairman, Pirtek Europe
Sky High Filling the GAP Flower Power One for the Road In the Flow Sticking Point
2 3 4 4 5 5
6 Going Forth 7 Go with a Bang 7 Demolishing the Myths 7 No Pressure Then? 8 True Grit 8 Snow Business 9 Chip off the Old Block
Faster than a Speeding Bullet Bridging the gap Earth Works Air Craft Sands of Time Pitching In All Steamed Up Upwardly Mobile Ultimate Test Emerald Isle Family Affair Tight Ship BTCC
9 10 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 20
Published by Pirtek (UK) Limited 35 Acton Park Estate, The Vale, Acton, London W3 7QE Tel 020 8749 8444 Fax 020 8749 8333 E-mail info@pirtek.co.uk
In the pipeline 3
Filling the GAP Left Glasgow General Manager David Gibson with a small part of the in house spares department he has set up for GAP Glasgow.. Above, Pressure hose being tested after re[lacement! Below, The sort of problem GAP workshop manager Steve Breton has to deal with when he said that not all his hire equipment comes back in pristine condition! Little wonder GAP get through so many pecker hoses
Despite its size, Gordon Anderson Plant, or GAP as it is usually known, is still a family run company with joint Managing Directors Douglas and Iain Anderson continuing their father’s legacy. However the company has grown somewhat since its inception in 1969, and now employs 800 people in 60 locations across the UK. To give an indication of the scale of operations, at the end of 2011 GAP spent £12 million on additional equipment and a further £15 million on replacing existing kit. The company is renowned for only stocking the best equipment available. With such high levels of expectations it is little wonder that GAP has a national agreement with Pirtek, as Glasgow workshop manager Stevie Breton explains. “We have a colossal amount of equipment on hire, usually to the big civil engineering and utility companies such as Clancy Docwra, and we are often the sole supplier. We stock anything from standing lights to excavators that range from 1.5- 8 tonnes, We must have one of the most comprehensive dumper fleets in existence that range from 1 tonne right up to 10 tonnes, which are quite unusual. We pick and choose certain brands because of the quality of the product. GAP recently purchased 60 Ammann rollers because of their superior noise and vibration levels. We use Kubota and JCB excavators, Sandvik hammers and Terex dumpers because of their quality. On top of this we have absolutely masses of small tools for hire. With this scattered all over the country, we need a supplier with the capability to react nationally,” he says. “All that takes a lot of looking after and I can't say our equipment always comes back to us in pristine quality after a hire. And, despite our best efforts, there are also failures on site. Which is why we have is Pirtek working away in the background to make sure everything runs smoothly. What I like about them is their proactive stance. It would be very easy for them to charge a call out for every little item, but they don't. The Pirtek Glasgow General Manager,
David Gibson, has gone out of his way to help us reduce charges and downtime. Over the 17 years we have used them, Pirtek has constantly looked at ways to improve their service.” Firstly they have negotiated on price, which makes them very competitive. I can use Glasgow as a first point of contact for emergency call outs, even if the breakdown isn't in their territory, that saves me a lot of time and effort. Their service is excellent and we have never had a problem with call outs, even at weekends, out of hours or in poor weather.' Breton explains that one of the key development initiated by Pirtek Glasgow has been the provision of an on-site store. “Where Pirtek really scores is the thought they put into our service. Obviously we go through a lot of hoses and fixtures, Above, Pirtek supply everything from hoses to lubes and oil. Below, A tiny sample of the so David provided GAP with an onsmall tool section of GAP Glasgow site stores facility to save time and call outs. In this he has provided 5 types of regular use hoses, all made to size with fittings, which are very handy for pecker hose replacements. We have a large stock of oils for the workshop, there are float gauges for the fuel bowsers, oil spill kits, grease and lube kits, quick release fittings and shelves of fittings,” Stevie Breton concludes. “There is anything between £500 and £800 worth of parts that we are can use at our convenience. David simply comes in and charges GAP for what they have used. This is done purely for the convenience of the customer – me.”
Quarter 2 2012
Flower Power Whatever you buy north of the border, it will inevitably be emblazoned with a St Andrew's saltire or a thistle. You expect this nationalistic identification on tourist goods but not really on heavy plant equipment. However if you do see an excavator carrying the national flower, it will almost certainly belong to Lochgelly-based Robert Purvis Plant. Founded in 1980 by current managing director Bob Purvis, the business started in plant hire and has diversified into 9 inter-related companies that form the Purvis Group. Services offered now include haulage, building supplies, civil engineering, demolition, groundworks, drainage, surfacing, recycling, tipping, screening and crushing, building, electrical and mechanical services, steel buildings, cladding and steel design, erection and fabrication. The company remains the largest independent plant company in Scotland and is one of the territory’s largest purchasers of JCB equipment, with
One for the Road
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excavators ranging from 1/2 - 33 tonnes. Purvis centralised their company at Lochgelly in 1982 to keep everything on one site, which helps reduce land requirements and having workshops and equipment at different locations. This centralisation has lead to an interesting relationship with Pirtek Kinross. “We've used Pirtek for over 20 years, in fact it's that long nobody can actually remember when we first started using them. Although Pirtek Kinross gets the bulk of our work, we use all the Pirtek Centres for emergency call outs,” says workshop manager Cameron Bell. “It's rare to find a supplier that has remained working for the company for that long. However there are three good reasons for this - price, quality and service, and Pirtek come out top in all of these. Although there is a fair chance we will see them every day, Pirtek Kinross has installed a crimping machine in our workshops to reduce the call out times. We will make two or three hoses every day and Pirtek restocks the hoses and fixtures every fortnight. We've always had an excellent working relationship with Pirtek and this installation shows the level of personal care and thought they have put into customer service.” Bell says that the flexibility of the Pirtek service also suits his company’s requirements. “We have a multi-tasking work force and expect the Pirtek engineers to be every bit as adaptable. We have 22 maintenance engineers and mechanics, including welders, fabricators and a mobile electrician, who provide our regular and preventative maintenance work, but we still depend on Pirtek to supply our hydraulic expertise. We could have a company car, truck, excavator or a compactor with a hydraulic problem and their engineers will happily work on any piece of kit we point them at,” Bell concludes. “We have a traditional approach to work. When you phone in, you don't get electronic options, you get a person who will talk to you. And if you want to talk to the MD, you can! Everything is done on a personal basis, and that's what we like about Pirtek, it's the service that matters.” Based at Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, Ian Craig Haulage Ltd. (ICH) is recognised as one of the leading road transport providers in Scotland. But the company has come a long way since starting in Cumbernauld in 1972 by Ian Craig with one second-hand lorry. The company's success can be attributed to reacting to customer needs; it even moved depots to provide a better service and expand its on-site brick storage facilities for customer Hanson Thermalite. For many years Ian Craig Haulage has provided transport requirements to the construction industry with bespoke, crane equipped brick carriers. ICH also operate a diverse range of 44 vehicles and 85 trailers, curtainsiders, platforms and tippers and is known for providing a tailored transport solution for customers. The company has been rewarded with the ‘Scottish Haulage Company of the Year’ award in 2004, and in 2007 for ‘Scotland’s Top Trailer Fleet.’ Today Ian Craig still runs the on-site workshops, while sons Kevin, Alan and Colin look after the general business management. The family prides itself on delivering a truly personal service with face-to-face communication and attention to detail. This reputation has led to a number of valued long established working partnerships with customers across the country. “We like the personal touch which is why we get on so well with Pirtek Falkirk,” says workshop foreman David Orr. “We must like what they do or we wouldn't have used them for the past 16 years. Although we have our own maintenance crew, we still need to bring in Pirtek a couple of times a week for hydraulic work. We make up a lot of our own hoses but Pirtek supply the parts and fittings. What we find so useful is the fact they can source so many parts. We've used them on everything from steam cleaning kits, steel bunded trays, blocks, diverters, return valves as well as all the usual hydraulic requirements.”
In the pipeline 5
Sticking Point
In the Flow Having a good working relationship with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) is good business for both parties, as construction equipment giant Liebherr has discovered. Having supplied a new 317 excavator to a Taylor Wimpey site in Ferry Road in Edinburgh, the machine was subsequently required to be fitted with a Rhino breaker to remove some underground foundations. This required a flow meter to be fitted for the safe operation of the hammer. Rather than have a test hose made up at the Bathgate factory. Liebherr called in Pirtek Edinburgh to provide the hose to calibrate the hammer. Liebherr prides itself on only fitting OEM products on their own machines, so was this policy being called into doubt with a Pirtek hose openly being fitted rather than an Liebherr one? It all turned out to be a matter of speed. Pirtek would get the customer operational in minutes, whilst a new OEM hose was being sourced for delivery later in the day. But the Pirtek hose wasn’t wasted. “We'll take this back to Bathgate and use it in the hammer test rig,” said the Liebherr engineer. “We wouldn't think of throwing a Pirtek hose away.”
About to celebrate its 50th birthday, Edinburgh-based RD Anderson Haulage owe its success to one simple adage: Stick to what you know and do it well. “That's a very good rule of thumb. The company started off as a family-run haulage company, and apart from a few specialist vehicles, that's what we have stuck to. We have built up our name and reputation on good service and having the right vehicles for the job,” says transport manager Robert Young. “We have survived in tough economic times because we have the equipment that customers want. We have a big fleet of lorry-mounted cranes that are capable of lifting a 12 tonne load. These are hugely popular because they are so flexible, especially when customer realise you can unload something as big as a Portacabin or a broken down excavtor with one of these. Running alongside is our fleet of 4,6 and 8 wheeled tippers. But we have a conveniently sized 7.5 tonne tipper for the little jobs that crop up. We can supply 4 and 6 wheel platform lorries, and again a smaller 7.5 tonne vehicle for the smaller work. We also have Brimec loaders for shifting plant and the larger loads. Perhaps interesting loads might be a better description as we've moved polar bears, fire engines and giant sculptures.” With 60 staff and 50 vehicles to keep employed, RD Anderson Haulage maintains a close watch on its overheads. “It makes economic sense to buy in certain services rather than keep a lot of spares and stock. That’s why we use Pirtek Edinburgh for our hydraulic repairs,” Robert Young concludes. “If price were the only issue, I'm sure we could buy cheaper but we certainly wouldn't get the service that goes with it. We have an excellent working relationship with Pirtek. Their response to a call out is always prompt and no matter where the repair takes place we know the job will get done.”
Quarter 2 2012
Chip off the old block
Carnoustie based D.J. Laing is one of those intriguing companies that seem to succeed even when a recession is in full swing. From plant hire and general contracting roots, the company has diversified into waste management, house building and civil engineering. Established in May 1975, the Laing Group has pursued a programme of planned and diverse expansion, and now employs around 110 full time staff and additional experienced subcontractors. The diverse nature of the company means that many of the products the company handles can be recycled into useful products within the group, keeping costs down and maximising profits. D.J. Laing’s skip hire service went on the road with just one heavy goods vehicle in 1990, and has grown into a fleet of seven artics, four tippers, three ro-ro’s, five chain lifts and two rel lorries, servicing 300 chain skips, 100 ro-ro containers, 200 eurobins, 200 wheelie bins and a weekly bag collection of 100 bags. Waste collected either goes to the Petterden Recycling Centre where all wood and inert material is recycled, or to Wester Gourdie Recycling and Transfer Centre in Dundee, opened in June 2010, which sorts commercial, industrial, household and civic amenity wastes. Laing recycle about 80 percent of the material brought into both sites, with that figure constantly improving as new technologies come on stream. At the Petterden site wood is recycled into woodchip for the panel board industry, sawdust for animal and chicken bedding, arena bedding, and third grade wood is
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processed for the ever growing biomass market. This material is processed through a Doppstadt DZ750 Shredder and passes under and over various magnets removing all ferrous and nonferrous metals. Inert material from C&D waste is also processed through crushers and screeners, producing 2 grades of topsoil, a 75mm crusher run, type 1 hardcore, and 14x5mm gravel, which are all re-used within the group. Laing also recover and process IBA ash for aggregates, top capping material and the recovery of metals. Through these various processes we produce a wide range of environmentally friendly products that are totally recycled from waste. We have already won awards for Energy Development of the Year and were finalists in the Best Partnership Award in the 2011 Wood Recycling Awards, which demonstrates the company’s effectiveness and commitment to the Recycling Industry and Environment. “However these processes are not without there challenges, every piece of equipment is expected to run at 100 percent efficiency, there is no overlap of machines, with each machine purchased for a specific operation,” said Site Team Leader, David Dewars . “Recycling has to be lean and mean to remain profitable, so if one machine goes down it needs to be back in operation extremely quickly. Pirtek Dundee looks after all the equipment hydraulic needs, and have done so for at least 20 years. We use them, and will continue to use them for the quality of service they provide us with. They are usually on site within 10 minutes from contacting them, 30 at the absolute outside. They have helped the company produce really excellent products on time, and within budget. We can work the machines to their maximum efficiency knowing that Pirtek and our regular MSST Bryan Drummond are on hand to back us up in a breakdown.”
In the pipeline 7
Going Forth
Edinburgh demolition specialist Forth Demolition prides itself on tackling all the awkward jobs no-one else likes doing. They say they have a natural affinity with Pirtek for the same reason. “We can have projects on the go all over Scotland, that will just about use every piece of kit we own. We run a tight ship to give good value to our customers, so it is imperative that every thing works to its maximum efficiency. The company has been successful, even during the recent lean years and as a consequence we own all our own equipment outright. However no matter how well we look after and maintain it, things will fail, and you can guarantee it will be on the key machine on a project. Usually on a horrible site, miles from anywhere, in the rain or in a blizzard,” says managing director Stephen McCann. “So we are lucky to have Pirtek Edinburgh close by for hydraulic repairs. They always give us good service and use quality parts and hoses. We only have to phone up and they are on site, usually well inside the advertised time. They always come out and do the repair in the most atrocious conditions, and without complaint. But what I really like about them is that all their work and products are guaranteed. That says a lot about their service.”
Demolishing the Myths
Go with a Bang Current (and two-time) World Demolition Contractor of the Year Safedem has explosively removed many an eyesore in its native Scotland and further afield. As a company, they like to make things go with a bang, but with one notable exception; the hydraulics on their equipment. Based in Dundee, Safedem has an enviable reputation as not just one of the most professional demolition contractors in the country, but also as one of the most considerate. The company is renowned for the thought that goes into their projects, and for the community liaison before, during and after a major demolition project. “We even received Christmas and thank you cards from members of the public who have been affected by our demolition works,” says Safedem finance director Peggie Smith. “I'm delighted. It means we have done a job properly and everyone is pleased with the result.” This is a view shared by Peggie’s son, William, managing director of the company and vice president of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors. “Obviously safety is of paramount importance with any of our work. Everything has to work perfectly and there is no room for error. It is a work ethos that has permeated through the company on every level, and we expect the same level of care from our suppliers,” William Sinclair says. “Pirtek Dundee has been our hydraulic service supplier for as long as I can remember, and for one simple reason; they are good. Their response times are excellent, the products are high quality and they understand the workings of the company whether in the workshop or on site. They are a company we can trust.” equipment, but parts fail and hoses still get damaged, and they need to be put right ASAP. Pirtek's reaction times are excellent and they do a sterling job on site,” John concludes. “They are very reliable and come equipped for any type of repair on site, which is why they retain our work.”
Pirtek Falkirk seems to be on something of a mission by servicing all the demolition companies in its locality. There are three large National Federation of Demolition Contractors members in Falkirk - Central Demolition, David Morton Demolition, and Masterton Ltd - an unusually dense concentration in such a small area. But Pirtek's success at capturing all their business is no real secret according to John McArthur, Contracts Manager at David Morton Demolition. “Demolition is now highly automated. In order to keep men out of harm’s way, virtually all the work is done by excavators, which are the lynchpins of any modern demolition project. The downside is that any unscheduled equipment failure will simply bring a project to a halt. And this, according to Morton, is why he and other demolition experts now rely upon the service offered by Pirtek. “Prompt back up and repairs by Pirtek are now an integral part of our operations. We always look after our
Quarter 2 2012
No Pressure Then? Founded in 1964, Blackwood Plant Hire has grown into one of Scotland's premier plant hire companies, but it still remains a family business with Tom Blackwood junior at the helm of the company his father Tom Senior created. Based at Stewarton just outside Kilmarnock, Blackwood now supplies virtually every major Scottish contracting company, including Land Engineering Ltd, Raynesway, Carillion Civil Engineering, Scottish Water and Network Rail. “We've expanded into a nationwide service with 100+ excavators from 1-30 tonnes, and 80 operational employees plus the office staff. We have worked for the traditional construction businesses since the company started but by diversifying into new fields, we have work in new sectors and projects as far south as Derby now. Our projects are as diverse as piling, powerline construction and rail infrastructure. We were also heavily involved in the Meadowhead water project. When the 2014 Commonwealth Games were recently awarded to Glasgow, we successfully tendered for part of the work, and will be starting on the new Velodrome soon,” says operations manager Allan Wilson. “We've retained the original family values in the company and it has paid dividends with a very loyal client base that appreciates a great traditional service, but one that's innovative as well. We constantly look at customer requirements to see if we can give better equipment provision or provide something out of the ordinary. This is why we invested in 11 excavators with Engcon
True Grit
One Scottish company that will never be short of work in the winter must be Paisley-based Beyard Services Limited (BSL), regarded as one of the country’s leading winter gritting providers. Established in 1984 as a specialist plant hire company, BSL soon diversified into specialist markets such as ground maintenance, site clearance, road sweeping, gully cleaning, graffiti removal, pressure washing, office and industrial unit removals, weed control, grass cutting, litter picking, fly tipping removal and of course, gritting. BSL adapted to seasonal work by converting existing vehicles to cope with snow clearance and gritting. By simply exchanging the bodies on their tippers to gritting spreaders and fitting ploughs to the front, BSL conquered another niche market.
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tilt rotators to make handling easier for operators, and 10 new low ground pressure excavators that range from 6-18 tonnes. This gives the company an advantage on environmental projects or sensitive sites. However as the company has expanded, so have the maintenance requirements. That's where Pirtek fits in. We are specialists in low ground pressure machines, they are experts in hydraulics. We can't fault Pirtek Kilmarnock, they are always there when we need them. They give an excellent response to any problem, plus they provide the national coverage we need. With work being undertaken throughout the UK, it's good to know we get the same excellent service wherever we are working.”
Today, the company covers 120 sites in Scotland, providing a prompt and reliable service at a competitive price, traits it expects its suppliers to replicate. Although BSL has its own fleet maintenance department, the company often calls upon the services of Pirtek Paisley to make sure everything works, even in the snow. “When the gritters go into action, there are often hydraulic hiccups because the bodies haven't been used since the previous year. The majority are simple to rectify but with salt being so corrosive, there are bound to be hose and fitting replacements,” says BSL transport manager Jamie Crawford. “All the machines are readied long before winter, which gives me a chance to see if any improvements can be made to the equipment, to either save money or make them more reliable.” Crawford reports that one such improvement has been a switch from steel to rubber hoses. “On the gritters, it was obvious that the expensive rigid steel hoses were failing, so Pirtek is replacing them with more flexible rubber hoses that are not only cheaper, easier to maintain, but more resistant to corrosion,” he concludes. “Thanks to Pirtek Paisley, we now have more reliable machines and can offer a greater service to the public as a consequence. We built our reputation on good service, and that's the same attitude that Pirtek employs.”
In the pipeline 9
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
Based at Invergordon, Pirtek Aberdeen MSST Paul Burton is a long way from his native Maidstone almost 600 kilometres to the south. But after visiting the area, he fell in love with the Highlands. Just as well. With a territory that encompasses Inverness, Wick and Thurso as well as the Highlands and Islands, it is not unusual for Burton to clock up a regular 300 kilometres per day on customer service calls. In fact, based upon his workload, it is tempting to check if he’s wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a large S beneath his Pirtek uniform. But he takes it all in his stride. “I’ve been doing this job for close on four years and I love it. I could be in Fort William, Skye and Wick on the same day and I’ve done work in Orkney as well. It’s hugely interesting work with a very diverse client base, oil rigs, agricultural, plant, North Sea supply ships, a 500 tonne dock crane, wind farms and even a customs boat the other day,” he says. “This is part of the Aberdeen territory, but with the population spread so thinly over such a big area, we realised that customers could be better served by a series of mobile workshops rather than a single trade counter. This has been vindicated by customer reaction, which has been very positive. Because we understand our customers’ industry sectors so well, we can keep the service vans well stocked with regular use components. Anything really unusual we can get from central stores the next day. That means that when we arrive on site there is a pretty good chance we can sort the problem on the spot.”
Snow Business When Pirtek Kilmarnock opened a new dedicated sales and service Centre at Dumfries at the end of October 2010, it was immediately christened with a good fall of snow. A year on, the Centre is thriving but it still has to contend with the Scottish weather. “The weather played a big part in the creation of the new Centre. Dumfries is nearly an hour south of Kilmarnock and now serves the business community down to the border and across to the west and the port at Stranraer. There is a big industrial customer base in Dumfries with national plant companies such as Quattro Rail, Hewden, Select and A-Plant close by, but that gets progressively more agricultural with a big emphasis on forestry to the south. Needless to say that means customers are often in remote locations, and bad weather will dramatically reduce the chances of keeping the 1 hour ETA promise,” says Pirtek Dumfries Centre Manager Dave Cranston. “We now have the flexibility of two Centres serving our customers and the response times have definitely improved, and the customer reaction has been excellent, so much so, that we now have a new service van at Dumfries, and have brought Mark Brennan in from Kilmarnock to help with customer requirements. We also have the trade counter open from 7.30 am to help customers prepare for the working day. This has proved immensely popular. Pirtek has listened to its customers and given them what they need. Being closer to our customers also means that the snow - so much a part of the Scottish way of life - is a lot easier to cope with.”
Quarter 2 2012
Bridging the Gap
6 January is traditionally known for the visit of the three wise men to Bethlehem. However, on 6 January 2012, three wise demolition engineers from Armac Group were tasked with dismantling the monumental structure known as Catthorpe Viaduct: the main overbridge of the M6/M1/A14 interchange, and one of the busiest intersections of the UK Motorway network. The junction handles 100,000 vehicles a day but has a poor road safety record according to the Highways Agency (HA) and had become a notorious bottleneck for those travelling south on the M1. The Agency began consultations in 2005 with Skanska for a public enquiry in 2008. Finally in 2011, the Government agreed to proceed with the £150 million road improvements.
Break Out A new viaduct was built at J19 to take the increased traffic. The replacement viaduct had been designed and constructed as part of the wider remodelling of the M1/M6/A14 interchange. As a result, the new structure had to be constructed just six metres from the old structure to tie in with the new junction alignment. The close proximity of this structure provided one of the greatest challenges to the Armac design team. Detailed CAD modelling of the structures demonstrated that there was enough working space, but even so it meant that the demolition between the structures required detailed control on the night from the demolition engineers supervising the break out. In addition, the length of the closure was a tough point of negotiation.
Armac had originally proposed a single 48 hour closure from Friday midnight to Sunday midnight. However, the HA was reluctant to close this busy section of motorway for such a long time and preferred a staged closure over three weekends with the central suspended spans and central leaf pier being removed under a full 18 hour closure and then the outside spans under separate 12 hour closures.
Financial Penalties At £ 18,000 per hour penalties, the large time reduction certainly focused our mind,” says Armac’s Rail & Civils director Noel McLean. “But a detailed hour-by-hour programme and finite analysis of the critical path gave us the confidence that we could meet such a difficult timeline.’ With some 4,000 tonnes of concrete, 500 tonnes of reinforcement steel and a three kilometre run to the tip area, a major logistical operation was planned by the Armac team. With all plant and equipment being delivered and removed from the project on a ‘just in time’ basis the project had assembled what is believed to be the largest ever assembly of demolition fire power for a bridge demolition comprising 14 hydraulic excavators
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In the pipeline 11
ranging from 70 to 50 tonnes; two 7 tonne hydraulic breakers; four 6 tonne breakers; six 4 tonne beakers; four 6 tonne pulverisers; four 4 tonne hydraulic processors; two 7 tonne shears; and a fleet of 12 x 40 tonne payload dumptrucks. However as Matt explained, there is a lot of forward planning to be done before work started. "I knew we would have a lot of machinery on site, and it all had to work all the time we were operating. And one of the most obvious causes of non-scheduled downtime is a hydraulic failure or damage to a hydraulic part,” explains Armac’s operations manager Matt Right. “So I arranged for Pirtek Birmingham to provide cover for the entire time we were operating at Catthorpe. They provided two vans with MSSTs working 12 hour shifts from 8pm Friday evening, during the set up period, right through to Sunday morning when we were clearing up.”
even he admits to having been genuinely impressed by the level of commitment shown on the Catthorpe contract. “Pirtek is very conversant with our fleet and have helped us standardise the hydraulic hoses and fittings on our excavators in the past. This meant that any repairs would be quick and efficient. There was a lot of forward planning and the Pirtek engineers were all briefed and inducted on site so everything ran like clockwork. They became part of our team and were very proactive, even helping to change excavator attachments to help us save time,” Right concludes. “I can honestly say hats off to Pirtek, they did a very professional job, and Skanska and the Highways Agency are chuffed to bits that it all went to schedule.” A time-lapse video of the demolition in progress can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/7hmj3lj
Time-Saving Having called upon Pirtek Birmingham’s support on previous bridge demolition projects, Right says he knew what to expect. But
Quarter 2 2012
Earth Works
Air Craft When brothers Ian and Hardie Brown started their plant business in 1964 it was the first step from their farming background to a multi-million pound enterprise with over 200 employees. The company’s history has been one of diversification. I&H Brown had evolved into a civil engineering main contractor by the mid 70s, colliery reclamation in the 80s, surface mining in 1985, and more recently a renewable energy provider. They still have interests in farming with almost 3,000 hectares of land in Perth, Lothian and Inverness, and 8,000 hectares of land management projects mostly in Glengarry. To date the company has completed over 500 civil engineering projects, with infrastructure work and bulk earthmoving, most noticeably on the M80, being supplemented by wind farm construction, remediation, landfill and residential development under the name of Tighmór. “We work all over the UK,” says plant director Robert Brown. “We have to be very diverse in the services we offer to our customers. As a result the company has evolved and diversified into lots of associated and allied industries over the years, which has greatly helped in times of economic uncertainty. One division would bolster another, and the value of the land would always underwrite any investment. This has helped secure work from wind farms in the Orkneys, to recent projects in London, Liverpool and Ireland.” Such diversification and evolution has resulted in the company amassing an impressive if disparate equipment fleet. “We have to have a lot of specialised equipment. We are big purchasers of Caterpillar and Volvo equipment and have recently invested a £1/4m in new Volvo articulated dumptrucks. We also have a fleet of excavators that range from 1.5 to 70 tonnes. That all takes a lot of looking after,” Brown continues. “We keep plant for no longer than five years and continually upgrade our fleet with the latest, most efficient models. To make sure it all works to maximum efficiency, we have used Pirtek Perth for more than 17 years, but we now have a national service to deal with emergency call outs in the rest of the UK. Pirtek deals with all our hydraulic needs and we are very happy with their service. Our engineers also use the trade counter, but Pirtek have very good response times if we do need them on site. An excellent job, with our regular MSST Ian Gray providing a sterling service.”
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Keeping all the ground support maintenance vehicles at an airport working is no mean feat, and a single missing item such as a deicing vehicle could seriously delay flights. So to find that the service vehicles at Aberdeen Airport at Dyce and its three million passengers per year depend on just one company (and a little help from Pirtek) makes the service even more remarkable. The original airfield was built in the 30s to improve links to London. It was greatly expanded during WWII, and again during the North Sea oil boom years of the 70s when three helicopter terminals were built. But Aberdeen Airport has recently undergone something of a renaissance with a new £10 million, 124 metre extension to the main runway that will enable much larger aircraft to use the facilities. It is thought that the anticipated quarter of a million additional passengers will bring in another £6 million to the local economy. Byron Buckett, the maintenance manager and owner of Ground Fleet Support (GFS) provides the support for Servisair, BAA and the Aberdeen Aircraft Cleaning Company at Aberdeen airport. He started GFS nearly five years ago after negotiating the contract with Servisair, which found that relinquishing the maintenance contract to GFS made more financial sense than employing their own maintenance team. “We certainly have a busy schedule, usually in excess of 40 hours of pure maintenance work a week. We keep the de-icers, ramp units, luggage loaders, tractor units and the high loaders for container loading in good working order. The airport vehicles have a hard life, and wear and tear has to be kept under constant control, as well as undertaking the regular scheduled maintenance work. The hydraulics on these vehicles are in continuous use, and replacement hoses are one of the most common repairs I have to undertake,” Byron Buckett says. “At first I just used Pirtek simply as a matter of convenience. I could remove a damaged hose, take it over to the Pirtek trade counter round the corner, and it would be made on the spot while I enjoyed a cup of tea. But as I’ve got to know them I’ve realised they could provide a big chunk of my other regular maintenance parts. They now provide all my hydraulic hoses, the stainless steel hoses, motors, valves and all sorts of fittings. They provide an excellent service and are always there for the odd emergency call out as well. I can cope with the demands of the airport because I know if I have Pirtek backing me up when I need help.”
In the pipeline 13
Sands of Time Steve with one of the many diverse machines used at the Elford Quarry
JPE quarry manager Dave Rogers with Pirtek Burton’s Steve Edwards
Operations at the Elford quarry owned by JPE Holdings, near Tamworth, are nearing completion as the site is coming to the end of its economic life and is about to be restored and turned into a holiday home leisure centre. "We’ll be sad not to be dealing with Pirtek Burton as JPE has enjoyed a really good relationship with them over the years," says quarry manager Dave Rogers. “We have been using them as long as I've been on the site, and they have repaired practically every piece of kit we own in that time.” The Elford site has a long and productive history having been previously owned by Blue Circle and Hanson before being sold to JPE. JPE is one of the Midlands leading suppliers of primary, secondary and in particular, recycled aggregates, clays and soils, with Elford supplying topsoil, gravel and sand. Originally a 55 hectare sand and gravel pit, the site was converted into a construction and demolition waste recycling plant when the virgin resources were exhausted. A wash plant was added allowing waste aggregate from the TV4 project to be recycled on the site, closely followed by waste material from the M6 toll motorway. "We crush and wash on site which allows JPE to produce really high quality recycled aggregates from 10-40mm,” Rogers says. “We then produce clean sand that is separated from soil using a cyclone washer, and we have a log washer as well that produces quality top soil. At the moment we are winding the site down. Only 2-3,000 tonnes of material a week is coming onto the site now, which will eventually cease altogether. We have just seven crew on the site at present and we were hoping to process the material from the HS2 project, but that will be another eight years away. Now it is a simple matter of economics, if we
produce a 6F2 product, it simply isn't viable to ship it into Birmingham due to transport costs, the site is in the wrong location. So JPE decided to move this operation to Sandhills, where the Pirtek work will come under the Pirtek Wolverhampton franchise.” Although he is assured that the Pirtek service is consistent across its national network, Rogers believes that the service at Pirtek Burton will be a tough act to follow. "I can honestly say we haven't had one problem with Pirtek Burton. That have always been Dave Rogers showing off the quality of the products totally reliable, provide an excellent service and we even get good prices on top,” he concludes. “I've even had their engineers come to our site on their days off to ensure we are working. Our MSST Steve Edwards even delayed going on holiday once to help me with a problem. Now that is dedication."
Quarter 2 2012
Pitching In
Quarry Manager Richard Abraham with site supervisor John Pearson
The current quarry has been extracting sand for 50 years under the Mansfield Sand name. Although the sand was originally quarried at the 60 hectare Berry Hill site to supply the needs of the local foundries, as these began to close, the directors of Mansfield Sand looked at alternative markets and found the unique sporting niche they are famous for today. But today the site is nearing the end of its productive life. The entrance has already been restored, landscaped and now forms part of a business park and NHS facility. However the company is in the process for developing a new site close by, where operations will be moved to in the near future. The company also own one of the most modern brick works two miles away from the current quarry. In the quarry, the five metre benches are now down to a depth of 30 metres thanks to intensive quarrying by a Caterpillar 615C elevated scraper - the key machine in the quarry. Director and Quarry Manager Richard Abraham says he cannot stress just how important this single machine is. "We use the Cat for primary sand removal, if it goes down, the plant stops. It produces 2,000 tonnes a day and although we have spare scrapers, we find it is quicker to call Pirtek out than put one of these into action. The chances are, Pirtek is on site in 10 minutes. They know we are on a very tight time span and do their best to keep us on track,” Richard says. “Although the scraper is vital, we get the same fast response for other machine failures. Pirtek has worked on our power screens, dozer, wheel loaders, the static plant, the pressure washers and forklifts and has even sorted fixtures and fittings for the gas oil and fuel tanks. I can't fault the service, that's why we have been such a long-standing customer."
When Mansfield Sand says it pioneered the development and production of high quality sand-based products for over 100 years, it doesn't even begin to describe the plethora of innovative products the company produces to keep a myriad of top sports venues open all year round. Readers of a certain vintage will recall a time when even top flight football pitches looked like ploughed fields throughout the winter months. And yet today they appear to always be in such pristine condition, even in the most testing of weather conditions. When you hear that the all weather course or pitch will be fit for use when surrounding venues are frozen solid, it is likely that a Mansfield Sand product is behind it. Although it's not the sand that Mansfield Sand produces that makes it famous, it is what they do with it afterwards that has brought this company fame. The sand can be mixed with compost, plastic fibres (Fibresand) and even elastic (Fibrelastic) to provide the base for some of the most iconic grounds in the world. The Aviva Stadium, the Millennium Stadium, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, Twickenham, Ibrox, Newcastle and Brighton & Hove FC use their products. It is also used on the all weather surface at Southwold race track, countless horse and manège training grounds (Carpet Ride) as well as a number of top golf courses in anything from a topsoil to top dressing. The Divot mix product is used to restore greens and tees as well as racetracks and the products are widely used in landscaping (Sherwood topsoils) and tree sand/Fibresand landscape (Helicom). The silica sand is quarried, washed by the on-site hydrofiltration plant that removes the clay before it is screened, processed, sterilised and dried. It is used for top block paving by Marshalls, bagged for local use, mixed with compost, as a topsoil with plastic fibres for a rooting medium for pitches or with elastic for training pitches, also used in main stadia as well. The additives are not bonded but specifically mixed to suit the requirements of the sporting venue. Chatsworth House has even used the Fibresand and landscape products in overflow car parking areas to withstand heavy traffic areas.
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Top, John with the Fibresand product and immediately above, with the Fibrelastic soil. Right, the quarry is now down to 90’ . When resources have been exhausted, the whole area will be restored for recreational use
In the pipeline 15
All Steamed Up Some vehicles and machines seem to have a personality of their own; and trains in particular have long been attributed with almost human characteristics. If this is the case, then 'Big Jim' an American an S160-28-0 loco currently being restored at the Haworth workshops of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR), already has a CV better than most characters in modern fiction. ‘Big Jim’ was built to take part in transporting material for the troops straight after the D-Day landings in 1944. The loco was shipped from the US to Wales, where it was stored in a quarry before being taken to France and put to work across Europe by the US Transport Corps, until the end of the war. KWVR knows it was then used in Greece, Hungary and Poland, where it was eventually discovered in a field by two KWVR members. Years of negotiation followed, and ‘Big Jim’ was finally purchased and shipped to England where it was promptly impounded at Hull, when it was discovered the ship's crew had Above Andy Tarran, KWVR fitter and below some of the numerous projects packed it with smuggled cigarettes. always on the go. Opposite some of the Eventually it was released and taken new Pirtek fittings on ‘Big Jim’ to Haworth where it is currently undergoing seven years of restoration and a complete rebuild. The 128 tonne loco is minus its boiler at the moment, but the tender has already been completely rebuilt and the wheels and driving gear are currently being reassembled for the completion scheduled for October 2013. Although a not-for-profit organisation, KWVR runs a fare paying service along an eight kilometre stretch from Keighley to Oxenhope that has appeared in many
The boiler from ‘Big Jim’
TV and film productions including Yanks, Sherlock Holmes, Last of the Summer Wine, Treasure Hunt, Sons and Lovers, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Poirot, Born and Bred, The Royal, Where The Heart Is, A Touch Of Frost, Songs Of Praise, and Pink Floyd's The Wall. It is this fare paying route that provides the funding for the volunteers to restore the locos. KWVR has five or six engines in full working order at any one time; three more on a rolling programme of maintenance; and eight others in various stages of restoration. As it usually takes 2-3 years to rebuild a loco every 10 years, the input from the volunteers is hugely valued by KWVR. “Big Jim is a good example. The volunteers have stripped the engine down to its frames and them proceeded to rebuild the entire engine. We have remanufactured all the pistons and valves in-house. We try and do all the machining on site to save money and it's wonderful to find we still have eight engineers available to the charity with such skills,” says fitter Andy Tarran. “However there are things we can't make, so we called Pirtek in to take a look at some of the pipework and odd fittings on the loco. As a result, our regular MSST Danny Casement has managed to source all sorts of weird components. We've involved him in the lube changes and the design of new pipe fittings which will prolong the life of the loco. A lot of this particular loco was fairly crudely made and frankly dangerous, so we have had to upgrade and standardise all the pipes and fittings to BSP, and Pirtek provided all of these. At least we know they will all be safe and operational parts now.”
Quarter 2 2012
See us at
Monaghan in Scotplant 2012 Epynt rally return Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston Edinburgh EH28 8NB Friday 27th/28th April Avenue D Stand No. 4
Upwardly Mobile
After 16 years spent on the service vans, an injury drastically altered Steve Edwards' career path with Pirtek. But in a fine example of the a positive philosophy, Steve has now taken on the role as Technical Sales Manager, with a little help of a customised sales vehicle.
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Rally driver Kev Monaghan started his 2012 season on 11th March when he contested round one of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, the Tour of Epynt. Monaghan will use his usual Vauxhall Corsa Kit Car backed by Pirtek Tyne & Wear, F & R Belbin Engineering and GB Lubricants, a car in which he and co-driver Chris Purvis almost won the class championship in 2011. The car has had a full engine rebuild by Bill Falconer over the winter and it has also had a paddle shift gear change fitted thanks to Playskool Motorsport which should ensure that Monaghan has the speed to do well again this year. "We had a very disappointing end to the 2011 championship when a fractured oil cooler forced us to retire on the final round," said Monaghan. "That cost us the class championship as well as the honour of finishing as first two wheel drive car. The car is all set for the opening round and we’re looking to build on the three class wins we got last year, I am confident that we will perform well again." Round one of the championship takes place on the notoriously tough tarmac of the Epynt military ranges near Llandovery in Wales. It will be Monaghan’s second visit to the venue. "I made my Epynt debut last year and it is fair to say that I was totally in awe of the place. The roads there are so fast with lots of places to have a big accident if you get it slightly wrong. The awful conditions on the day didn’t help me get much confidence so hopefully they will be better next weekend. "The aim for round one is to be on the pace of the leading crews in the class and to get a good finish with a decent haul of championship points." The rally start from the Castle Hotel in Llandovery with the crews contesting seven stages over the ranges totalling 80 miles.
Pirtek Burton Centre Manager James Guest (left) with Technical Sales Manager Steve Edwards
“It seems it doesn’t matter how many product catalogues we give out. One of the most common customer comments is still ‘I didn’t know Pirtek did that’. So I decided to be more proactive, taking the products to the customer and explaining all the services Pirtek can offer," Steve explains. "So we purchased a Mercedes Vito and kitted it out as a mobile sales showroom, which I take out on the road.” The van (and Steve) are shared between Pirtek Burton and Pirtek Coventry with three days per week spent in each area. “It’s gone down a storm,” Steve asserts. “We’ve had a really good reaction from existing customers and plenty of enquiries from new prospects. I get a lot of new work from existing customers when they discover we can provide, amongst other things, pneumatic services and ram repairs. The personal approach works really well once you start to explain what Pirtek can provide, and how Pirtek are prepared to go the extra mile on service.” Steve believes that customers appreciate the personal touch this new approach affords. "We had one really good result with American truck manufacturer Liberty Electric who couldn't source parts for a 7.5 tonne lorry,” he concludes. “Pirtek Burton did, and as a direct result of that meeting we made 21 sets of fittings and shipped them to the USA. Personal touch? - works every time"
In the pipeline 17
Ultimate Test Hose testing and certification is becoming more and more common, especially among hi-tech companies. Pirtek Galway has the perfect solution; a full test rig and calibration unit. Originally purchased for a specific job in the petroleum industry, the test rig has proved it’s worth on countless occasions. "We were faced with a big customer moving the goalposts and insisting that in future all hoses not only had to be pressure tested, but they had to come with a calibration certificate as well, " recalls Pirtek Galway's Managing Director, Seán Howard. "When you’re making 700 hoses a year for a client, you comply. And once we had the rig installed, we realised that it was actually to our advantage because we now had a facility we could offer to the oil and marine companies using deep water hoses, that need to be certificated every six months. But it was only when we started to get enquiries from the pharmaceutical sector that we knew we had a piece of equipment that meant we could investigate all sorts of new industries. This was very much a case of providing what the customer needs rather than presuming you know what’s required. We have had no trouble getting the hydraulics message across, and as a result we have a long list of long standing and very loyal customers who have stuck with us, because we have provided the best service possible, by being as flexible as possible to cater for their needs. As a result we have found we are in an excellent position to offer our customers even more as the economy grows again." Seán Howard
So you think you know Pirtek? Pirtek. The name conjures images of hydraulic hoses, right? But there’s more to the Fluid Transfer Solutions provider than just hoses. Did you know, for example, that the company is also adept at hydraulic ram repairs? Take Pirtek Dublin for example. According to Licensee Ken Robertson, customer demand dictated that ram repairs featured amongst the services offered by his Centre. "There is a huge demand for ram repairs in this area," he enthuses. "We set up our engineering workshop which included welding and Ram specialist Peter Roita brazing facilities, a very large lathe to turn the ram steel rods, and a lot of ancillary equipment. We don't sub any of the repairs out, everything is manufactured on the premises by our ram specialist Peter Roita. We are resealing plenty of rams and remanufacturing between 10 and12 per month at the moment. We offer a full removal and refit service, together with a variety of engineering solutions. Peter Roita is currently manufacturing a series of blocks for Aer Lingus that are part of their recharging system for oxygen bottles."
Emerald Isle The distinctive green and purple livery of Greenstar seems to be everywhere in Ireland today. After taking over the operations of Veolia, this Irish company has taken the recycling industry by the scruff of the neck and employed some innovative concepts many UK companies would be delighted to emulate. Greenstar is Ireland’s leading provider of environmental, waste management, skip hire and recycling solutions. Employing more than 670 people across 40 sites nationwide, the company offers services in education, research, composting, recycling and the development of facilities for the safe disposal of waste that cannot be reused, recycled or recovered. Greenstar provides waste management solutions to industry, business and domestic customers, recycling or recovering over 60 percent of the waste handled. The company also provides household waste and recycling services to over 70,000 household customers and 25,000 business customers nationwide. In addition, Greenstar operates materials recovery facilities in Wicklow, Sligo, Cork and Dublin including Millennium Park, the country’s largest and most sophisticated automated recycling facility, which can divert between 70-85 percent of waste from landfill. The company has invested over €320M since it was founded in 1999 to develop essential integrated waste management infrastructure and is making further investment in its Dublin operations to produce fossil fuel substitutes (SRF) from landfill. In 2011, Greenstar will generate enough energy from recycled waste to power 35,000 homes. The waste stream segregation process is incredibly thorough, as recycling manager Carl Hogan explains. “Take our clear plastic wrap recovery section. Here two guys will split open recovered plastic and sort it by hand at night, when the baler isn't being used, removing as much of the coloured material as possible. We then produce a bale of cleaner material called 98.2, which has a much higher retail price than unsorted plastic. A little effort brings greater rewards and a much more useable product. The coloured plastic is simply reused in a different process. They will sort through 14 bales a night, that's approximately a 120 tonnes a shift,” he says. "We will recycle as much as possible. Glass is processed by a company in Northern Ireland, segregated paper waste goes to Kent, and food waste goes for separate composting. Wood is put through a shredder for mulching rather than biomass. One of our specialities is our granulator, which deals with our polyurethane waste. We sort it carefully before granulating so the products are of superb quality with varying grades of product depending on the raw material." All of these processes place a great demand upon Greenways mobile and static equipment fleet. "We run a tight ship with just 10 people on the ground and 18 drivers. Where we get a hydraulic hose problem, Pirtek comes over straight away, often within 10 minutes,” Hogan concludes. “They do all the dirty jobs. They are always on time and work with no hassle. They get the job done right, first time.”
Quarter 2 2012
Family Affair
Keep on Trucking Pirtek is renowned for sourcing weird and wonderful fixtures for unusual applications. To prove the point, Pirtek Peterborough came up trumps when faced with a 1944 ex US truck to repair.
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To say that S.E. Davis & Son is a family owned and operated business that has been located at Astwood Bank, Worcestershire for the last 70 years doesn't really begin to describe the company. The 6.5 hectare site is actually home to five generations of the family and a personal collection of 500 period pieces of construction equipment. The company has a huge fleet of excavators, shovels, ADTs and graders for hire, but it also provides a recycling facility where utility companies can bring waste material for processing. Even this doesn't go to waste, as the salvaged material is used in a variety of products including Kwik-Bloks, a dry wall system, as well as top soil, aggregates, drainage material and sand. The on-site recycling facilities lead to another innovation from the company; a mobile washing plant that can be taken on site to process and recover waste material in situ. The process is quick and does away with settlement lagoons and vehicle movements. The process also recycles the water in the process. What looks like an artic trailer actually contains a mobile de-watering centrifuge which processes 50tonnes of sludge an hour, removing the water with a 6.25 tonne centrifuge operating at 2,100 revs or 3,000G. The centrifuge is powered by 90 and 45 kW electric motors and is totally selfcontained. It can also be linked to a log washer which splits silt from sand at 65 microns and will process 2,500 litres per minute. Great grandson of the founder, director Paul Davis, admitted that the project had a very mundane beginning. “My dad Andrew and I are easily bored. We're both famers at heart and have an agricultural background, so we tend to look at things in a slightly unconventional way. The waste recycling lead to the installation of our own recycling plant, which works very efficiently and provides a wide range of products we can reuse. The only thing we could think of was taking the recycling plant to the customer site to save on vehicle movements,” Davis says. “And it was a great idea because we can pack it into just three trailers and then interlink the kit in loads of configurations to provide all sorts of solutions." But that great idea isn’t without its challenges, as Paul Davis explains. “It's all very well designing something like our mobile recycling plant but it has a couple of hundred hoses in its construction, so I'm very pleased we have Pirtek Redditch to fall back on. We've used them for over 20 years and we still remember when Andy Connell - now owner of Pirtek Birmingham – was our local MSST,” he says. “The service from Pirtek has always been excellent and the MSSTs are very practical people. I know they undergo a lot of safety training for site work. I trust them implicitly, especially our regular MSST Mark Sayers, who we have a very high regard for. ” But like a true farmer, Davis says he still likes to keep an eye on his expenditure. “As good as they are, Pirtek doesn’t have carte blanche and we constantly check on prices,” he concludes. But we do get the most superb service from them, which is priceless.” “Operating in an agricultural area we often get asked for parts for old tractors but a Second World War truck, you have to admit, is a little unusual,” says Pirtek Peterborough licensee John Hector. “But when Ian Garbutt, Secretary of the Huntingdon & District Area Military Vehicle Trust, turned up with the remains of an oil pipe from a 1944 GMC CCKW 352 truck our staff didn't even pause for breath. We simply manufactured a new hose incorporating the rescued connection pieces from the old oil pipe and handed the completed item back to a very pleased customer.” Pleased indeed. Just a few days later, Hector received a letter that stated: “Your staff showed considerable expertise in being able to reuse the connection pieces when making up a new pipe. At all times your staff were helpful and courteous and a credit to your firm. Should the opportunity arise I will have no hesitation in recommending your company…” "We always do our best to help any customer in need, that's the way to do business,” John Hector concludes. “What's so nice about this is that the customer took the time and trouble to say thanks. That is much appreciated by myself and my team.”
In the pipeline 19
Tight Ship
With a decreasing budget, increasing workload and a growing fleet of vehicles that should have been replaced, Belfast City Council has joined the ranks of local authorities that have to give ever greater levels of value for money. Assistant Fleet Manager, Ciaran O’Callaghan had the thankless task of rationalising services and preparing the tendering documents for various aspects of external maintenance work. "When it came to the hydraulic services I made a particularly tight document to ensure that only the best equipped and dedicated companies could compete for the tender. In the end just three companies were able to supply the services we wanted and of those Pirtek stood out as the clear winner." he says.
Left Assistant Fleet Manager Ciaran O’Callaghan with a RCV in for servicing with a burst hydraulic hose . Right MSST Alan Craig checks for leaks after a repair Below Some of the 380 vehicles in the BCC fleet
"We have 380 vehicles ranging from ride-on mowers to 32 tonne skip loaders, road sweepers to RCVs (dustbin lorries) to look after with a workshop maintenance crew of just 12. We do all our own preventative maintenance work, servicing and damage repairs. What we can't do is external on-site repairs, so if a refuse truck breaks down miles from the depot, we need to get an engineer to repair it fast - that's Pirtek's job." Ciaran reports that Pirtek’s task will be made more difficult by the ageing fleet with which they will have to contend. "We have 50 vehicles that should have been replaced this year but we don't have the budget to replace them, especially when a single RCV will cost in excess of £130,000. So we are keeping them in the fleet for an extra 2-3 years which means there is more maintenance work to keep them on the road. We also have the problem that we are committed to give better value for money without jeopardising any service or reducing any safety aspect. We can't take vehicles out of service but we are constantly looking at how to get more out of them and how to make services more efficient.” The council has been extremely pro-active in its cost-cutting, investing in driver training and slowly switching to automatic vehicles to reduce fuel and operating costs. The company also calls upon Pirtek to carry out regular inspections of its vehicle and equipment fleet to minimise unplanned downtime. “Pirtek Belfast is in every Saturday and Sunday to make sure everything is working for Monday morning. Every vehicle is inspected every 10-12 weeks. When that involved working in -25 degrees last winter that shows real dedication,” Ciaran asserts. “Our regular MSSTs have established a really good relationship with our fitters and it’s not unusual to call them in for one repair and find them still here working on two or three others on the same visit. They give a brilliant service, otherwise they wouldn't still be here."
Shutting the Gate Police in Ballymoney are holding a unique ‘CESAR It’ day at John McElderry Motors and Tractors Ltd., Market Street on Tuesday 3 April. This is the first of a number of PSNI fitment days throughout Northern Ireland. The CESAR registration scheme protects your equipment by state of the art technology and visual deterrents. CESAR has the added benefits of having no annual fees and will reduce insurance costs. The system is approved and recommended by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Association of Chief Police Officers. Inspector David Anderson said: "This scheme is just one of a range of events and projects being held by H District to help prevent agricultural crime and raise awareness of crime prevention measures." Cathy Doyle of Pirtek Belfast said, "As an additional incentive to farmers Pirtek Belfast will refund one lucky farmer the cost of their CESAR Kit! This coupled with the discounts on insurance available for having CESAR fitted makes this offer too good to miss."
Quarter 2012
In the pipeline 20
Pirtek Racing unveils 2012 BTCC livery Pirtek Racing has unveiled the liveries for the pair of NGTC Honda Civics that Andrew Jordan and Jeff Smith will campaign in the 2012 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The sensational livery will keep Pirtek Racing firmly in the spotlight as the BTCC once again enjoys a superb TV package, with extensive live coverage on ITV4 as well as highlights programmes on ITV1. “The new livery is going to be familiar to fans of Pirtek Racing, but even brighter than before,” said Andrew Jordan. “People expect the Pirtek cars to stand out!” Jeff’s car will again run under the Pirtek Racing banner and will be finished in Pirtek blue, but with the branding of his Industrial Control Distributors company.The two new Pirtek cars are currently nearing completion with Team Dynamics and the initial reaction to the first NGTC Civic car built for Matt Neal has been very positive indeed. Now, the development of the Pirtek Racing Hondas is nearing completion. “We hope to have our cars by the end of this week and then we’ll be out testing next week,” said Andrew. “I’ve been at the Dynamics tests and that’s been a useful chance to learn about the new car. The potential in the new car is clear and we should be able to hit the ground running.” “I’m very excited,” continued Andrew. “We’ve straight away put ourselves in the best car on the grid. I think we’ll work very well with Team Dynamics and they are being very open with us. I think it will be the best car on the grid and I’d like to think we’ll be consistently near the front of the BTCC action.” The first public showing for the new Pirtek Racing livery will be at the BTCC pre-season media day at Silverstone on Monday 19 March.
BTCC 2012 Programme Brands Hatch 01/Apr/2012 Donington Park 15/Apr/2012 Thruxton 29/Apr/2012 Oulton Park 10/Jun/2012 Croft 24/Jun/2012 Snetterton 12/Aug/2012 Knockhill 26/Aug/2012 Rockingham 23/Sep/2012 Silverstone 07/Oct/2012 Brands Hatch GP 21/Oct/2012
Competition With the British Touring Car Championship just about to start, In the Pipeline is offering one lucky reader a chance to win 2 Pirtek Racing Experience tickets to a BTCC event at a circuit of their choice. To be in with a chance, just answer the following question: Where will Pirtek be exhibiting in April 2012? Please email your answer to info@pirtek.co.uk. The winner will be drawn from the correct entries on 30.04.2012. Good luck. And congratulations to Rachel McCrath from Surrey who correctly answered the competition in the previous edition of In the Pipeline and won a Pirtek Racing Hoodie and cap.
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