Mick George invest in new Cat machines
Waste-management firm strengthens equipment fleet with 30 new Caterpillar machines from Finning
MICK George, one of the UK’s leading waste, recycling and aggregate specialists, have invested in 30 new Cat machines which will support six of their sites across the East Midlands and East Anglia regions. The latest deal will increase the contractor’s Caterpillar fleet to 74 active machines by the end of 2015 and marks a significant increase in the number of units purchased in recent years.
Supported by five-year service and maintenance agreements, the move comes on the back of the successful use of the Just Add Diesel (JAD) solution from Finning, which saw Mick George purchase a total of 22 JAD support units in 2013/14.
By putting together a deal which includes support from Cat Finance, Mick George have been able to package their equipment finance, service and maintenance costs together over a five-year period, fixing the company’s plant costs.
Jon Stump, finance director of Mick George, said: ‘We are a business that is growing in all of the markets in which we operate. We have ambitious plans for expansion and due to the diversity of our operations from contracting to waste handling and aggregate processing; we need to have a clear gauge of our variable costs.
‘This is why we lock down our equipment maintenance and servicing whenever we can and when Finning introduced Just Add Diesel in 2013 we saw a clear opportunity to turn a variable cost into a fixed cost while taking advantage of much more fuel-efficient new equipment.
‘In this deal we have continued to recognize the value we get from a packaged solution and in some respects, when you compare costs from old to new machinery, the savings in fuel alone simply don’t justify keeping older equipment in the fleet.’
The new fleet includes: a Cat 972M XE wheel loader; Cat 730C and Cat 725C articulated trucks, a range of excavators from Cat 312E and Cat 320EL units to Cat 366FL models; Cat D6T dozers; and the first Cat 836K landfill compactor in the UK.
Dave Coney, territory manager for Finning, commented: ‘This is probably the most diverse, cost-focused fleet deal we have seen in the UK for some time. It marks a step change in the way a business like Mick George is approaching the management of assets and how they see equipment solutions moving forward.
‘In 2013/14 Mick George became the largest JAD user in the country and with this deal they have recognized the value JAD has delivered, putting together a similar package that enables them to get a real competitive advantage by fixing costs on very fuel-efficient equipment.’
