JCB secures £27m order from leading hirer

JCB has announced it had won an order for more than 800 machines from one of the UK’s leading rental firms - a deal worth more than £27 million.

The order has been placed by A-Plant for a huge fleet of micro, mini and midi excavators and 240 Loadall telescopic handlers and is a big boost for JCB’s British factories, where all the machines will be made.  

Delivery of the new fleet to the hirer’s extensive UK depot network begins this month through JCB dealer Greenshields JCB.

The latest deal comes on the back of 550 machines ordered by A-Plant last year – and means the company has now bought 7500 machines in a trading relationship with JCB stretching back 25 years.

JCB CEO Alan Blake said: “This is the biggest volume deal of the year for JCB from a UK customer and we are absolutely delighted that A-Plant has ordered such a significant number of machines. It is a huge vote of confidence not only in the quality, reliability and fuel efficiency of JCB’s products, but also in the UK hire market.”

Among the machines ordered are one-tonne class JCB 8016 and 8018 mini excavators, which have just gone into production following their international launch at the Bauma construction equipment trade fair in Munich. The machines feature more than 30 improvements including and 11% increase in dig depth.

Amongst A-Plant’s new fleet are Loadall telescopic handlers powered by JCB’s fuel efficient Ecomax engine. Developed to meet the EU Stage IIIB/US Tier 4 Interim emissions standards, the JCB Ecomax Tier 4i has no need for costly diesel particulate filters (DPFs) or exhaust after treatment fluids, resulting in low cost, efficient operation for customers. This has resulted in the world’s cleanest and most efficient off-highway engine and means JCB’s Loadalls use 7% less fuel than outgoing models.

Director - Purchasing and Fleet Management for A-Plant, Andrew Winlow, said: “A-Plant is committed to offering its customers the newest, most productive, innovative and fuel-efficient machines on the market, and this order fulfils that promise.

“With the Loadalls powered by the innovative Ecomax engine, A-Plant and its customers both benefit; customers will use less fuel and A-Plant won’t be faced with the expense of maintaining diesel particulate filters or the addition of Ad Blu to the engine.

“A-Plant has been doing business now with JCB for 25 years and from a single machine purchase in 1988, the business relationship has grown into a real partnership between us, JCB and Greenshields JCB. We continue to be positive about future market growth and that is underlined by the size of our investment in JCB machines.”

A-Plant is one of the UK’s largest plant, tool and equipment hire companies, hiring a vast range of non-operated equipment for industry and construction.  Its hire fleet comprises over 110,000 itemised pieces of plant, tools and equipment and the company invests a multi-million pound figure each year in new equipment and state-of-the-art technology. Accredited with ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007, A-Plant has one of the most robust safety and quality management systems in the industry.

A-Plant has a UK workforce totalling more than 1,900 employees, based at locations nationwide, including its support office in Warrington, Cheshire. It forms part of FTSE-250 company Ashtead Group plc, which also comprises Sunbelt Rentals based in the USA. Ashtead Group plc has become firmly established as one of the world’s leading equipment outsourcers.