Hewden purchase 463 Cat C-Series telehandlers

Plant hire firm returns to core business with largest single purchase of Cat telehandlers in the UK

NATIONAL plant hire firm Hewden have purchased 463 Cat C-Series telehandlers from UK and Ireland Caterpillar dealers Finning, marking the largest deal since Hewden were acquired in May 2010 by Sun Capital Partners.

The £25 million total package is the largest single purchase of Cat telehandlers in the UK and also represents continued investment from Hewden in their core fleet ‘next-day’ delivery guarantee.

With its focus on operator comfort machine strength, durability and build quality, along with its new-generation low-emission engine, the new Cat C-Series telehandler is a highly effective unit that will allow Hewden to meet the recent surge in demand for such machines in the plant hire sector.

Commenting on the deal, Kevin Parkes, Hewden’s chief executive officer, said: ‘These products are in high demand from customers and form part of our core fleet proposition. Our investment will ensure we are able to say yes to even more hires and satisfy even more customers.’

As part of the deal, Hewden have taken out full service contracts on the equipment, which will all be condition monitored by Finning’s Finsight advisors. The service package will take advantage of Finning’s national branch and mobile engineering team, to ensure the highest levels of uptime and hire availability for each unit.

Commenting on the deal, Jason Howlett, Finning Equipment Solutions director, said: ‘Getting back to core business with Hewden has been a key goal for the Finning team, led by our strategic plant hire account manager, Andy Davies.

Like Hewden, we have seen substantial growth in the telehandler market and in our market share, thanks to the new C-Series range. With so many units set to be available for next-day delivery with the Hewden core fleet guarantee, both businesses will benefit from the increased use of the Cat C-Series in the market.’