Hyundai help Cornish demolition business grow further
Demolition South West invest in Hyundai machines to support future growth strategy
FOLLOWING the demise of St Austell-based DRS Demolition National in 2015, the region found itself without a dedicated local contractor who was capable of taking on the complicated and skillful work of dismantling buildings in a safe and controlled manner.
However, following a short period in the wilderness, Darren Shrigley, the son of the former owner of DRS, Dave Shrigley, spotted a window of opportunity to put his stamp on an industry that he had grown up around and indeed cut his teeth in as a machine operator.
Talking about his new venture Darren Shrigley said: ‘Soon after the closure of my father’s business, I spotted that there was going to be a massive gap in the market down in the South West for a demolition firm and with that in mind I formed Demolition South West [DSW].
‘In early 2016 we won a contract to demolish the iconic Ponsmere Hotel in Perranporth, Cornwall. This job gave us a great start and involved the removal of asbestos, internally and externally, the complete soft strip of 80 bedrooms, bars and recreational rooms and the salvage of some 2,000 sq m of timber floorboards.’
He continued: ‘Of course to tackle this job I needed machinery, so I got in touch with our friends at Molson Group, Jonathon Wilson and his son Tom, who agreed to hire a 20-tonne Hyundai hydraulic excavator. We used the Hyundai for 5-6 weeks and I really liked the machine so much I decided to purchase it.’
A period of rapid expansion for DSW followed and the company’s mobile equipment fleet is now dominated by the Hyundai brand. The earthmoving machinery includes: several mini-excavator models and a recently delivered demo-spec 40-tonne 380LC-9A machine.
The latest excavator for DSW has been shot blasted and re-painted, with new side-impact skirts and belly guards fitted. It also features a FOPS cab guard and full ‘fall-from-height’ boxing ring protection. Working alongside a Hyundai 220LC-9A, the 380LC-9A has dismantled heavy-duty concrete structures, which were fed through a Sandvik crusher for reuse as hardcore.
As well as continuing to bolster their plant and equipment fleet, DSW are also on the lookout for a new material processing facility and Darren Shrigley expects to see more recycling kit being added to the fleet as workload expands.
‘Our business has come a long way in a short period of time; in addition to the plant we are now running a couple of trucks with hook-loaders and around half-a-dozen vans,’ he said.
‘Now going forward, I feel that our crusher would benefit from having a new wheel loader to work with it and, again, it will potentially be from the Hyundai stable and possibly another 40-tonne class excavator will join the fleet. Indeed, it is an exciting time for the business and I’m looking forward to pushing it on.’
