The fastest emergency hose replacement service there is

Showtime!

In this Issue Banking on the Future

In the pipelineQuarter 3 2014

Attention GrabberInvestor in People

Visitors to the recentScotplant exhibition will bewell aware of the strongpresence that Pirtek enjoys“North of the Border”. But unless you holiday inNorthern Europe, you wouldbe forgiven for being lessaware that our influenceand coverage extendssouthwards too, beyond thewhite cliffs of Dover and oninto countries includingBelgium, the Netherlands,Germany and Austria.

Pirtek UK

Sure, the local language might have changed. But the name, products and dependable servicesremain consistent whether you’re in Munich orManchester; Berlin or Birmingham; Linz orLondon. And besides all that, at a time when Euro-scepticism seems to be at an all-time high, isn’t itgreat to report on a UK company leading the wayin Europe?

Best regards

Alistair WigginsManaging Director

And yet it is our growing presence in theseimportant territories that has earned Pirtek itslatest award: The British Franchise AssociationInternational Achievement award.Of course, if you’re running a factory in Edinburghor a plant hire fleet based out of Kent, it would beeasy to dismiss Pirtek’s growing dominance of theEuropean emergency on-site hose replacementmarket as irrelevant; what happens in Stuttgartstays in Stuttgart, right? The truth, however, is wholly different. Inaddition to making a major contribution toPirtek’s financial stability, allowing us to invest inever-improving products and services to makeyour life easier, Europe has also been used as aproving ground for some of the key initiativesintroduced in the UK in recent years. Furthermore, while it might pain David Cameronand Nigel Farage to admit it, UK companies areincreasingly looking to mainland Europe toexpand their horizons and swell their coffers.And Pirtek is there to support them.

Published by Pirtek (UK) Limited Pirtek UK Ltd, 199 The Vale, Acton London W3 7QS Tel 0208 735 4408 Fax 0208 746 0256 E-mail info@pirtek.co.uk

www.pirtek.eu

Beyond UK Shores

CompetitionWin Pirtek Hospitality guest tickets for 2 people at a BTCCevent of your choice!As you know Andrew Jordan is from the West Midlands, howmany centres do Pirtek have in the West Midlands?Please email your answer to info@pirtek.co.uk. The winner will be drawn from the correct entries on 1st September 2014 Good luck.The winner of our last competition was James Ball fromYardley, Birmingham

Bristol In the pipeline Quarter 2014Thurrock

All change at ThurrockAfter months of negotiation, Lee Tubb has taken over the Pirtek franchise at Thurrock, Essex. Inthe move he has promoted the popular Basildon MSST, Jon Bell to Centre Manager as theincumbent centre manager Derek Hay retires.

Peter Gregory, thelicencee for Bristol, sadlypassed away in June thisyear.

Peter took on the PirtekBristol franchise in April1991 making him one ofthe longest serviinglicensees’ in theorganisation.

Peter started the Bristolcentre from scratch andbuilt it in to thesuccessful business wesee today.

Known throughout thePirtek organisation as awell respected, hardworking professional whobuilt a successfulcompany supported by avery dedicated team. Allof whom respected, andthought highly of him

He leaves a wifeGeorgina, and threechildren.

He will be sadly missed.

If the name Tubb seemsfamiliar to regular Pirtek usersin the south east, it could bethey have come across Lee'sbrother Perry at the Luton orHarlow Pirtek franchises.Lee was often on site at the twoPirtek centres where he actedas a technical manager althoughhis career had lead him intobuilding maintenance projects inrecent years. As these came toan end, the opportunity ofpurchasing Pirtek Thurrock cameout of the blue. 'Knowing thecompany, it was too good to miss,' said Lee. 'This is a heavilyindustrialised area, which is hoserich.

Old HandPirtek Cleveland is about to lose a record asMSST Steve Elliot will finally retire at the endof July.

Steve joined Pirtek in 1988 at the grand age of47, and moved to Cleveland in 1996. And at 65,he is definitely the oldest MSST working forPirtek anywhere in the country.Described by other centre employees as a proper'old school' fitter he will be missed by his workcolleagues all of whom have been impressed by

Cleveland

PeterGregory

his quiet manner and his ability to just get onwith the job. The younger MSSTs were alwaysimpressed that he was still out on the vans at hisage. “You never heard from him from end of theday to the other,” said one. “In fact if you did hearfrom Steve, it meant he had a real problem andcould do with a hand, but that was very rare.'Steve used to cover the Hartlepool and Stocktonarea at the Cleveland Centre. But he won’t begoing quietly and will be using his previousexperience at Pirtek as well as his time as agroundsman at a stately home, and fitter forPrudhoe to good effect, as he intends to work asa freelance tractor operator, operating from hisexisting smallholding.

Although there is plenty of competition thecentre has a healthy turnover, which shows thereis a loyal and stable customer base which wewould like to develop further."Lee continued, 'There is a huge untappedpotential at Thurrock and I feel that the newfaces at the Centre will greatly help sales. Myfirst job was to find a replacement for Derek whowill shortly retire. I had the good luck to prise the

highly experienced JonBell from adjoiningBasildon and promotehim to centremanager. It is abaptism of fire forJon but he is copingbrilliantly. Pirtek isdefinitely in hisblood, as he said, it'snot a job, more away of life.'He concluded, 'I amhoping to putanother service vanon in the nearfuture and will lookat increasing thesales team. I liketo honestly dealwith customersand build up thepersonal touchthat customerswant anddeserve.'

Now in its 16th year, Scotplant 2014 onceagain proved to be the largest and mostimportant construction industry show northof the border, with 124 exhibitors on siteover the two day event. Organisers wereconfident the show would easily surpassthe 4,000 plus visitors of 2013. The showhas earned a reputation as a must attendevent, a fact not missed by Pirtek, who hadtwo very different stands at the show.

In the pavilion, Pirtek Edinburgh andPirtek Glasgow recreated a Centresales area to show off the differentproducts Pirtek can supply. Thestand was jam-packed witheverything from Teng Tools,

through to pressure hoses and reels. Suchwas the interest, the Edinburgh staff of

franchisee Ben Jones, Centremanager, Robert Armit and MSSTAllen Winton were often rushedoff their feet with customerenquiries.

SHOWCASE“People often forget that Pirtek

doesn’t just supply hoses, but an awful lotof auxiliary equipment as well. The spillkits for instance, sold extremely well and we have had a lot of interest incompanies wishing to carry them on theirvehicles as a permanent fitting. The toolsare always popular because of the range wecarry, plus customers value the high qualityof the equipment. Hose reels and jet hosesfeatured well, and are always popular, but wehad a lot of other products to show off aswell,” Ben Jones explains.

“Scotplant also gave us a chance to showcase theBrakeQuip process, where we can make tubes andfittings for the automotive trade. There has beena huge amount of interest in this at the show, andwe were able to demonstrate just how good itwas, with live demonstrations on the mainshowground site. The system can make just aboutany rigid tube and is suitable for replacingequipment such as vehicle brake hoses,especially where originals are either no longeravailable or prohibitively expensive. This hasbeen very popular with local garages. The showproved invaluable to us, as it remindedcustomers of the myriad of products we alreadysupply, as well as informing them of the newservices coming on stream. A good exercise inletting people know what Pirtek can do.”

Pirtek www.pirtek.eu

Show Time

IMPRESSIVEOut on the showground, the Pirtek UK stand had amuch more glamorous look to it. A fully-equippedservice van - supplied by Pirtek Edinburgh -proved an attraction to many an engineering andservice manager. All were impressed by thecomprehensive range of hoses and fittingscarried on board, and the ability to manufacturereplacement hoses on site to reduceunscheduled downtime on damagedhydraulic equipment. However, the main attraction of the site

had to be a replica Honda BTCC racing car,borrowed from Pirtek Ellesmere Port,where it is used to deliver parts tocustomers. The car is to all intents, visuallyidentical to Andrew Jordan’s British TouringCar Championship winning vehicle. Itproved to be a magnet to many familyvisitors. As an added attraction, there was astand next to the car where visitors couldenter a competition to win two VIP tickets towatch Jordan defend his BTCC crown duringthe 2014 season.

INFORMING THE CUSTOMER“Exhibitions like this aren’t purely aboutpromoting the company, but more aboutinforming customers of what is available. Weensured customers realised we operate 24/7 allyear round, and there was a call out serviceavailable out of hours, something ourcompetitors are unable to match,” says PirtekUK marketing manager Tammie Argent.

“Having attracted people onto the stand withAndrew’s car, we offered refreshments to thevisitors while we demonstrated the BrakeQuipautomotive system. This is a fairly new service tomany visitors, who were unaware that Pirtekcould make automotive pipes as well. Thedemonstrations proved very popular and I thinkthe new service will prove invaluable to those inthe automotive trade. Despite the appallingweather on the Friday, we had a lot of interest inthe stand, the service and the products. Happilyon Saturday, the weather gods smiled on us andthe show took on a much more family feel.Everybody had a great time and I’m sure there willbe a lot more viewers to ITV 4’s BTCC programme,where the armchair pundits will get a chance tocheer on Andrew Jordan and the Pirtek Racingteam.”

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014

PIRTEK has won a national award at the bfaHSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards.

Winning Streak

After winning thecoverted prize forInternationalAchievement,Alistair Wiggins,managing director atPirtek, said, “Wehave been drivinginternational growth for afew years, by really stepping up our focus onapplying local strategies to each market withinan overall international mindset.”He continued, “Our Chairman Kelvin Roberts evenlearnt German to facilitate our transformation inthis market, and create an inclusive atmosphereacross country boundaries, eventually presentingat the Pirtek Germany conference. Our strategies have cemented our status as aleading business across Europe.”The franchise entered the market in 1998specialising in hydraulic hoses, pipe fittings andcouplings. Now the company has service centresand on-site teams working across Europe.Judges were hugely impressed by Pirtek’sinternational development. Having alreadysuccessfully grown across various Europeanmarkets, they have just opened in Austria, withItaly next in line. The company learned lessons from the mistakesof previous less-successful European ventures,and has now adapted its expansion planaccordingly, to deliver a high level of customerservice and franchisee care.For the past two years, Pirtek has delivered 25per cent annual growth, achieved throughcommitment to international development.

Regular readers may recall an article featuringHarry Newman who had started hisapprenticeship at Pirtek Mitcham. In the Pipelinereturned to follow his progress through the Pirtekranks.After two and a half years, Newman hasprogressed from answering the phone in theoffice and dealing with customer enquiries,through to the workshop, where he learnt aboutthe myriad of fixtures and fittings, and how tomanufacture hoses. Whenever possible, he wasallowed out with the more experienced MSSTs,for on site training. Recently he was promoted toone of the service vans, providing cover for theother MSSTs. He was insured to drive the 3.5

tonne service van, and under guidance oftwo of the Centre engineers, was taughthow to handle the vehicle. This ensures thecentre always has a spare pair of handsand an additional person to provide out ofhours cover. “It's a far more rewarding job than anythingI have done before,' Newman says. “It'svery varied and you are continuallylearning. It gives me a great opportunity tomeet new people and work on a huge rangeof equipment. Best move I've ever madeand I'll certainly be sticking with thecompany. It's never boring, as every day isdifferent.”To test that theory, 'Pipeline' followed HarryNewman through a typical working day. Asthe centre at Mitcham opened, he got hisfirst call; a leaking hose discovered on aVeolia dustcart that had been called in for aroutine service at their Croydon workshops.The next call out couldn't have been moredifferent. Newman was asked to spec up areplacement 1.5" BSP hose on a GM PilingLlamada P140TT piling rig working at theSouthside Shopping Centre in Wandsworth.Unfortunately the rig was in the middle ofsome vital piling and the company decided todefer the repair for several days until the rigwasn't required.Next call was made by John Cygill, the yardoperative at Eve Trackway in Wimbledon. AMoffet Mounty SMMF 02 forklift had beendropped off at the storage yard with a burst jackhose. This rendered the machine unsafe, as itcould not be stabilised when loading.

Mitcham www.pirtek.eu

Investor in PeoplePirtek has an active and very productive apprentice programme which, coupled with the company’sNational Training Centre in Birmingham, means that the company is training an ever-increasingnumber of young people, each equipped to deal with the demands of any business withhydraulically-operated equipment.

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014

With a flatbed with a trailer arriving to collectbarriers for the FA cup winners’ parade in a fewminutes, Harry Newman was put to immediatework. “The yard holds 20,000 barriers and the arrivinglorry would be one of many that day to take stockto other depots,” John Cygill explains. “Thecompany has the contract for the Met police andhas handled the Jubilee celebrations and theLondon Marathon amongst others.'With split second timing, Newman replaced the3.3m 3/8" hose in time for the flatbed to collectits load. As he was clearing up the spill from theburst hose, Harry Newman received a further newcall; a Caterpillar 308D excavator used by WhiteHorse Contractors had blown a bucket hose.Location: Selhurst Park.It turned out to be the famous Crystal Palacefootball ground which was in the middle of a 10-week refurbishment programme. A new pitch was being laid, with undersoil heatingalso being installed, in order to meet top-flightregulations for the 2014/15 campaign. Work hadalready started in earnest with the top 100 mm ofrootzone removed to be re-used at the 'Eagles'training ground. White Horse then stripped thetopsoil and subsoil down to 350 mm, prior todigging out the perimeter drainage ditch. Thesurface to be removed and reshaped with newmaterial by the Abingdon-based company. White Horse is a sports ground specialist and hasworked on a wide variety of venues including theground at Chelsea FC, landscaping at the Olympicvillage and the racetrack at Ascot. The companywas using a range of small excavators at CrystalPalace, but with JCB, Caterpillar and Hyundaimachines on site as well as a fleet of dumpers andtippers, it was inevitable that Pirtek would beinvolved at some point to provide replacementhoses. According to the site manager, thecompany had already called upon Pirtek Mitchamfour times that week with another MSST visiting

the site earlier in the day to fix anotherexcavator.With the hose replaced, Harry Newmanreturned to base to drop off your intrepidreporter. Hands shaken and gratitudesexchanged, the Pipeline team left theMitcham Centre. And so did HarryNewman…on another emergency call-out!

The charity is a provider of services that enhancethe quality of life for serving and retired firefighters, and their families. It costs £9 million ayear to keep the charity running and, with nogovernment funding, they are completely relianton the generosity and enthusiasm of theirsupporters. There are three centres - in Devon,Cumbria and West Sussex - that offer physicalrehabilitation and recuperation programmes tomembers in times of need. To aid emotionalrecuperation, the charity offers one and two-week breaks, designed to help those who havesuffered injury, illness, stress or bereavement.In a completely different fund raising approach,the charity also raises money through the FireFighters Charity Race Team, which is run by asmall group of individuals who have the charity intheir blood.

Medway www.pirtek.eu

Old Flame

The Fire Fighters Charity was set up in 1943to help injured fire fighters and providesupport to their families during World War II.Today their aim is to help members of the fireand rescue community who put their lives onthe line every day to save others.

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014

I SHALL RETURNAfter enjoying a break at one of the charity's

centres, fire fighter Dave Franks - who is also thecharity rep for the Herne Bay fire station -decided to build a race car to promote thecharity. To raise funds for the project, he sold carparts at Brands Hatch, vowing to return with hisown race car. It took him a year, but he built avery creditable racing car from the body andchassis of a 1978 Mini saloon. By a happy coincidence Franks became a frequentvisitor at Pirtek Medway, after the Pirtek teamoriginally helped him with seals on the powersteering for a camper van. When the Mini conceptbecame reality, he would drop in to see if theycould source odd parts for the car. His timingproved to be immaculate, as Medway franchiseeTracey Newman, had been looking for a localcharity to support.

PIT CREWPirtek Medway became one of his sponsors andprovided practical as well as financial support tothe team. In particular, Darren EdenboroughMedway’s centre manager who put in a lot of time

and effort to get the Mini project underway. He,along with members of the centre, even acted aspit crew at the Mini's first race meeting at BrandsHatch, where it lapped the circuit in under aminute. Not a bad feat for a vehicle that was stillbeing wired up two weeks prior to the race day atBrands. An even closer call was the fact thatFranks didn't have his racing licence until twodays before the meet.

SUPPORTPirtek Medway has supplied, oil and petroladditives, hydraulic, cooling and steering hoses,grease cartridges and seals, but moreimportantly, have paid the race fees for the 17events in the 2014 season. This has enabled theteam to race at a far greater range of venues andgain publicity for the charity at the same time.Pirtek UK also provided a range of promotionalitems that the charity can sell to provideadditional funds.When it's not racing, the mini is taken to schoolsand collages to focus the minds of young driversas to the dangers of poor driving. The car has thebacking of the Kent Fire and Rescue Service as aneducational tool. You can follow the Mini'sprogress on www.firefightersraceteam.com

BT Fleet is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BT Group, providing award-winning fleet management, vehicle maintenance and accident management tosome of the country’s most recognisable businesses.

Renowned for specialism in mission-criticalfleets, BT Fleet has a reputation for servicequality, technical excellence and resilience. Witha customer base that includes BT, National Grid,EDF, Post Office, Network Rail and E.ON, thisrequires a relentless focus on reducing transportcosts, optimising utilisation and keeping vehiclesfully operational around the clock. BT Fleet cater to virtually any fleet requirement;from cars, commercial vehicles to heavy-dutyplant equipment. The company win contractsbecause they not only source and supply many oftheir customer's vehicles but they provide acomplete service and maintenance programme onvirtually any vehicle. It is capable of handling even the largest fleetcontracts and seems to have a penchant for theunusual, oddball and specialist vehicles thatother companies shy away from.

FLEET MANAGEMENTBT Fleet manages a total network of over 500preferred garages, owning and operating 63, oneof which is based at Exeter and supported byPirtek Exeter.Once on the Exeter site, it doesn't take long torealise that the company not only services andmaintains BT's vehicles and equipment, but justabout every other national company's fleet aswell. The company yard is filled with BT P3 vanmounted platforms, AA recovery flatbeds,security vehicles, transits and trailers from everyutility company you can think of, accessplatforms, pole erection units, Atlas cranes andcable reel trailers.As a part of each routine service, all the hydraulicequipment is also inspected and maintained. “Wehad used Pirtek but thought we could get a betterdeal from another hydraulic company, so wemoved the account away.

Exeter www.pirtek.eu

Fleet of Foot

SIMPLY BETTERBut we soon discovered that Pirtek were betterequipped, cleaner and responded better, so theyregained the contract. They were simply better,”asserts workshop supervisor Paul Hedges.“Richard, our MSST, always gives his best,responds very quickly, is clean, does a good joband just goes that extra mile, which is reallyappreciated when we are trying to keep so manyvehicles serviced. He even gives us instant billingwhich is a real help when we need to invoice ourcustomers. Pirtek Exeter give an exceptionalservice, Richard in particular. He really knowswhat he's about, is happy to work outside in allweathers and takes a real pride in his work. Andbelieve me I don't often compliment people, so hehas earned that praise.”

TAKING OFF THE PRESSUREHedges readily admits that BT Fleet are ademanding customer. “We need a quick turnoveron vehicle maintenance. Quick but good. Whichmeans on hydraulic work we have to call in Pirtek,as it would simply be impossible to carry theenormous range of hose, let alone the fixturesand fittings we would need to hold to service thehuge range of vehicles that come through ourdoors. Pirtek can have that headache andoverhead. Where they really score is on out ofhours work and site call outs, and their ability tosource all the oddball fittings we seem to runinto.” Paul Hedges concludes. “We have sixengineers in our workshops, working in two shiftsfrom 7 in the morning until 6 at night. Theyhandle everything, including engine and gearboxexchanges. However whenever Richard is on site,he manages to take a lot of pressure off our guys.He sorts all the hydraulic work down to mundanethings like changing seals. Our ethos is get itright - first time, which is pretty much why we usePirtek.”

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014

“Pirtekwere

betterequipped,cleaner &

respondedbetter, so

theyregained

thecontract.

They weresimplybetter”

Cramlington www.pirtek.eu

Nowhere is this more obvious than atShotton, currently one of England’slargest surface coal mines, nearCramlington, Northumberland whereBanks has created a 19 hectare publicpark with the Northumberlandialandform designed by world famousartist, Charles Jencks at the centralfeature. As part of a planningapplication for a new surface mine atShotton, the Banks Group andlandowner Blagdon Estatedecided to create somethingunique that would enhance thepositive social and economicimpact on the surrounding area.

RESTORATION FIRSTThe company adopted a“Restoration First” strategyto the scheme, taking anextra piece of land donated by thelandowner, adjacent to the mine andproviding a new landscape for thecommunity to enjoy while the mine is stilloperational. Northumberlandia, a 100foot high reclining female figure was builtfrom 1.5 million tonnes of carefullyselected material taken from the surfacemine that would become the world’slargest human landform. The project hasalready garnered significant interest,attracting over 100,000 visitors inthe first year.

From the road that surrounds the site, it isimpossible to visualise the size of the 244hectre Shotton site. The site is shielded by alandscaped and grassed soil bund thatcompletely conceals the mine. However on thesite it is a constant hive of activity with 93vehicles working there. In fact, Shotton is oneof three local sites that boast 184 machines intotal. It isn't the sheer number of machinesworking there that is impressive, rather it istheir size. The Cat 777 dump trucks that makeup the bulk of the fleet weigh in at 164,654kg, but even they are dwarfed by the Cat 789which can carry a load of 200 tonnes.

BIG IS BESTControlled blasting is carried out everyworking day, sometimes twice a day tofracture the hard rock lying above the coalseams by RJ Blasting from Scotland. AnAtlas Copco boring machine is constantlyworking flat out, preparing a 60-hole blastsequence along a seven metre face that will

Banks Mining, part of thefamily run Banks Group, isone of the UK’s mostsuccessful coal miningcompanies, developingand operating surfacemines throughout Englandand Scotland. Thecompany is committed tomining coal in the mostsustainable way possible,helping to ensure that thecountry has sufficientfuel to meet its growingenergy needs with thelowest possibleenvironmental andcommunity impact.

Banking on the Future

enable the excavation of 40,000 m3 of material aweek. The coal seams are between 30-40 metresbelow the surface and are covered by distinctlayers of Mudstone covered by a surface layer ofShale. Both are removed and carefully stored onsite for the progressive restoration programmethat is constantly being undertaken. The coalseams are mined down to a depth of 60 metres,with the coal processed, graded and screened onsite. The bulk of the coal is destined for use at

Top, Some of the huge stockof CAT fittings required forBanksAbove, Ali and the CAT!PressLeft, CAT fittings awaiting obe cleaned and refurbished

After three yearscollaboration a local accountagreement is presented toRobert Meek, ProcurementManager for Banks by PirtekTyne & Wear OperationsDirector Kevin Monaghan

The face of NorthThe next blastbeing prepared

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014

power stations and is sent by road to beloaded on to rail at the Port of Blyth, just 30minutes away, with other coal supplied to thewholesale domestic market.At the heart of the mining process are the 294tonne Bucyrus RH120E face shovels andexcavators capable of loading 16.5 m3 in asingle bucket. These are somewhat put in theshade by the 525 tonne, Bucyrus 200E - theonly one in the country – that will load 26 m3 in

a single pass and is the only excavator largeenough to load the Cat 789. The Cat dump trucksare supplemented by a Fleet of Volvo A40 ADTs.

The company has fitted all the mainexcavators with water suppressionequipment and the entire site isconstantly sprayed to reduce dustto a minimum.

REDUCING DOWNTIMEThe company has extensiveworkshops on site but keeping thefleet working effectively takes a lot of hard work,as workshop manager Simon Bainbridge explains.“We will see Pirtek MSST Ali Denton fromCramlington a couple of times every day. Heprovides a whole range of 420 bar 2" and 2.5" Cathoses and makes sure we have spares on site. Hewill also supply anything from 1/4" greaselines toaircon hoses. He keeps a huge range of fixturesand fittings on the shelf for Banks, and canmanufacture any of our hoses at very shortnotice, which is just as well as we can't hold thesheer range of stock needed to service such alarge and diverse fleet on site,” Bainbridge says.“Ali has gone out of his way to reduce downtimeon the machines as he knows that if any of the bigexcavators or face shovels go down, productionstops. If I phone Pirtek and say I need a hose,

they know I need it now, and Ali's response timeis usually 10 minutes. He will drop everythingand come to our rescue. We have developed agreat working relationship with Pirtek andmaintenance works a treat when Ali is on site.We've used other hydraulic companies in thepast, but Pirtek are simply the best.”Banks Plant Manager, John Welsh added, ‘We arevery happy with the service, all very smooth, withno problems. They handle everything veryprofessionally.’

Above, Site Manager,Kevin Banks, son of thefounder Harry BanksBelow, the 525 tonneRH200

Left, Profile of thequary showing Shale

and mudstone overlayers to coal

Above, On site screening and blendingBelow Simon Bainbridge

umberlandia CAT!789

Poole www.pirtek.eu

The company undertakes a range of civilengineering and piling projects – includingsheet, driven and CFA piling – together withsome more general construction work aroundrivers and railways. As part of its site objectives, the companyneeded a means of moving material inhazardous, confined spaces such as tunnelledwaterways using an unmanned, remotelycontrolled excavator. The answer was a fullysubmersible unit christened the “LittleMermaid”. A close relationship of business trustalready existed between J Suttles and PirtekPoole when our MSST Ross Welch, was

requested to assist in the conversion of aKubota mini digger. Working alongside the Suttle's workshopvehicle technician Jimmy James and under thedirection of Managing Director Joe Paine,Welch designed the conversion hydrauliccircuits for the traction, steering, shovel andblade operations. He also reconfigured theelectrical ignition circuit as the cab along withcab control systems were removed.

The engine was removed and then skid-mounted for easy transportation. Theengine/hydraulic power pack was connected tothe digger unit via 20 meters of supply andreturn umbilical hoses. Manifold blocks werecommissioned from local engineering

The Little Mermaid

companies and HydacTechnology Ltdattended on site toprovide the pivotalwireless operatedcontrol valve system. But the ambitious project was not without itschallenges.The major problem was setting up the wirelesscontroller to the correct command functions.This took approximately two weeks ofmethodical diagnostics and modifications. Therewas also a solution required to achieve a balancebetween engine power and hydraulic powercircuit requirements. Circuit relief valves had tobe fine tuned to prevent engine stalling. Initial commissioning of the system was carriedout at the Pirtek Poole Centre. Once the controlcircuits were operating correctly, the vehicle wastaken back to the local Suttle's quarry for powerhandling tests. The month of May saw the “Little Mermaid” carryout her first paying. After initial operations,there are plans to develop a hose deployment andrecovery reel synchronised with the tractioncommand functions on the wireless panel. In theinterim, floatation buoys are going to be fittedalong the hose run to make recovery easier. Thenext assisted project is already in the planningstage, once again converting a piece of plant forremote operation.

The Suttle family name has been part of the Dorset stone industry for some 70 years. Todaythe quarry owners and stone merchants company runs a large fleet of modern tipper andcrane offload vehicles, and is the premier provider of crushed stone, aggregates, recycledcrushed concrete and natural stone products in the Poole, Bournemouth and neighbouringareas of Dorset.

Glasgow In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014

Linde Material Handling ranks among the world’s foremost makers of forklifttrucks and warehouse handling equipment. The company takes specialistcustomer requirements and aftercare equally seriously, as its Glasgow facilitysuperbly demonstrates.

Workshops Supervisor, Alec Jamison ismodestly proud of the facility in EastKilbride just to the south of Glasgow. “Wesupply new machines, provide adaptationsand attachments to new and existingmachines and have a completerefurbishment facility on site,” he explains.

LOOKING GOODThe immaculate workshops deal with ahuge variety of work, maintaining andrepairing machines from 1 to 45 tonnes.Added to the new machines awaitingdelivery are rows of used machines invarious states of refurbishment from thesomewhat battle weary 'end of lease'machine, to those that have been rebuiltand repainted and which look almost as

good as the factory-fresh forklifts.“Machines can be on lease for as littleas a week or as long as five years. AndI'm afraid most of them get a goodhammering in that time,” Jamison says.“When a forklift comes to the end of itslease, we take it back and return it to asclose as its original state as humanlypossible. We also buy back customerowned machines to refurbish and sellon. We pass thousands of rebuiltmachines through the workshops,certainly seven or eight every day, andthere is always a ready market for themas resold trade vehicles, those solddirectly to the end user and those we willreturn to our own fleet.”

LABOUR!INTENSIVEAll of this repair,maintenance andrefurbishment work islabour intensive anddemanding. “We havethree of our ownengineers based here,plus myself to deal witheverything to newmachine preparationand adaptation, to therepair andrefurbishment side ofthings. That spreads us

Handled with care

“Pirtek are good,and I'd soon tell

them if theyweren't.”

a little thinly at times, especially with remote on-site breakdowns or repair work. We do have tocall in a little help from time to time. And that’swhen we look to Pirtek for support,” he asserts.“Pirtek are good, and I'd soon tell them if theyweren't. They supply all the new hoses forspecialist attachments, and these are all custom-made for each machine. We have one in at themoment, which is designed to turn whiskeybarrels in a distillery. A distinctly Scottishadaptation. But we also have rotators, palletstackers, all sorts of attachments in now to fit.But that is only one side of the business here.New forklifts are expensive and customersexpect value for money. There always plenty ofwork for Pirtek. They do all our field visits andhelp Linde keep repair work viable for ourcustomers.”

www.pirtek.euDundee

Pirtek Dundee is always on call 24/7 to themaintenance department, which works a rotasystem with three engineers on nights and four ondays. The Dundee facility deal with anything to dowith the highways, and that includes all the vehicles,street lighting and road repairs. As with all councils, there is an extraordinary rangeof vehicles to maintain,from lorry-mountedplatforms to maintain thestreet lighting, down toschool minibuses andmobile libraries. Amongstthe 500 plus vehicles inthe fleet stationed atDundee are tar lorries,white liners, tippers, aRhino patcher for pot

Tayside Contracts is acommercially-based localauthority contractingorganisation providingcatering, cleaning, roadsmaintenance, vehiclemaintenance and wintermaintenance throughoutthe Tayside area ofScotland. The company isthe commercial tradingarm of Angus, Dundee Cityand Perth & KinrossCouncils, employing some2,500 people, operatingout of over 10 facilities.

hole repairs, 25 mini tractors, JCB backhoes, and inthis part of the world a fleet of gritters to cope withthe aftermath of inclement weather. Even thegritters have different categories. There are sixmainline gritters that were purpose built for the job,plus demountable units and smaller HiLux units thatcan be used on roads with weight restricted bridges.Whatever the weather, one gritter is always onstandby at Dundee, filled with sand, ready foremergencies such as fuel spillages.Maintenance fitter Bob Mather has Herculean taskof keeping it all running. At least four or five

vehicles will pass through the workshopsevery day with Bob dealing withgeneral servicing, repairs andMoT preparation for VOSAinspections every week. Themaintenance unit also deals withfleet washing, changing ofclutches and gearboxes andengine replacement if calledupon. It even has its ownspecialist computer diagnosticsequipment for enginemanagement. But with a relatively small

engineering team and such a large fleet,remote repairs – especially thoseinvolving hydraulics - is an area that Bobis happy to delegate. “It is far moreeconomical to use an outside supplierthan to use one of our own fitters whomight already be dealing with urgentscheduled work,” Bob explains.Mather says that he has used PirtekDundee for six years but knows the

company of old. “I use them because theyget me out of trouble. I can't afford to send one ofmy guys out to a remote repair as it would waste too

much time. They also carry a lot more stockthan I can, so it reduces my storagerequirements and cuts my overheads. It’smore cost effective all round.”But Bob Mather insists that his reason forusing Pirtek is not all about the bottom line. “I get a quality job with Pirtek, and I'm happy

with their service. I have been using them forour hydraulic work and they have supplied theworkshops with steering and hybrid hoses aswell. Tayside Contracts covers a huge area and

believe me, having Pirtek pick up the remoterepairs takes so much hassle out of the job.Their engineers are faultless. When I'm in ahurry and want something done urgently, theyare here quickly, and they remain polite with nomessing about. They know their job and theyknow what I need and expect,” Bob Matherconcludes. “Best of all, all the Pirtek MSSTs areas good as each other, which is very reassuring,knowing I will get the same good service, whoeverdoes my repairs.”

Road Works

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014Paisley

Interserve is one ofthe world's foremostsupport services andconstructioncompanies, operatingin the public andprivate sectors. Basedin the UK but operatinginternationally, thecompany has a grossrevenue of £3.1 billionand a workforce of over75,000 peopleworldwide.

Flight of Fancy

One of the company’s key areas of activity is in theaviation sector, as demonstrated by its work atGlasgow airport where Interserve supplies all thesupport services to the British Airwaysmaintenance department, servicing a fleet ofshorthaul Airbuses.The entire enterprise is powered by compressedair with every tool or piece of equipmentoperated in this manner. It isn't until you witnessthe massive amount of work that goes intoservicing and maintaining an airliner that youappreciate how complex Interserve's servicesare. Every aircraft can be reduced to just anairframe and completely rebuilt on site by the300 personnel who work 24/7 in three or fourshifts.

OUTSTANDING WORKA $70 million Airbus could come into the BAfacility for any one of the planned 10 overhaulprogrammes, including a complete refit, whichwill entail even removing the seats andcarpets, through to engine rebuilds.

Interserve use Pirtek Paisley as an approvedsupplier to provide the compressed air equipmentused by British Airways. Pirtek has a longstanding programme to ensure thattools used in the hanger have standardised fittingsrather than the more obtuse ones they are usually

supplied with. Interserve now specifiesevery tool with a Pirtek fitting that issubsequently colour coded for specific useon site.Over the last eight years, Pirtek hassupplied everything from retractable hosereels and over a 100 different air tools tostorage lockers. The reason for the myriadof equipment is because absolutelyeverything operates on air, including thewing jacks down to the fuel tank pumps. “We have used Pirtek for years. Theyoriginally supplied all the pipework intrenches that had to be dug across thehanger floor to the wing docks. We havea very good relationship with them andtheir response times are excellent,”concludes Interserve engineer JohnGallacher. “Their work has beenoutstanding and we are very happy withtheir service.”

“Pirtek’s work has beenoutstanding, we are veryhappy with their service”

Doncaster www.pirtek.eu

The Ardagh Group is a Luxembourg-basedproducer of glass and metal products. It wasfounded in 1932 as the Irish Glass BottleCompany. In 1999 Ardagh started a massiveexpansion programme by acquiring RockwareGlass, followed in 2007 by buying the RexamGlass Division. In 2011 Ardagh Group diversifiedwhen it bought the metal packaging companyImpress Group and Fi Par. In 2012, the companyacquired Anchor Glass and in 2013, St-Gobain'sVerallia North America.Every year, Ardagh's 30,000 employees turnover4.8 billion Euros, make 30 billion containers atover 100 global locations. The company says itsgoal is to be the preferred packaging partner tothe world's leading brands, and with customerssuch as Coca Cola, Barcardi, AkzoNobel, Heinz,Danone, Kraft Foods, Pepsi, L'Oreal, P&G andUnilever amongst their portfolio, it would seem ithas achieved that aim. AG Doncaster was once part of the RockwareGroup with the facility built in 1969. EngineeringManager Malcolm Hallet is tasked with ensuringthe plant runs smoothly. “Pirtek Doncastercertainly helps my work. I've used them at AG forsix years but I've known and used the company atother locations for in excess of 10 years. Theysupply all sorts of material, PTFE hoses, fittings,seals and oil immediately come to mind. What Ilike about them is that they will turn out at thedrop of a hat. I have the satisfaction of knowingthat if anything fails, Pirtek is less than an houraway, which means that any productiondisruption will be very short lived,” Hallettconcludes. “I've never had any problems withPirtek. They are helpful, knowledgeable and I canrely on them to get me out of trouble every time.”

Glassy-Eyed Working for a company that is a world leadercarries a certain level of pride and kudos withit. So it is doubly pleasing for PirtekDoncaster to be highly regarded by such acompany; the Ardagh Group facility inDoncaster.

“I can rely on Pirtek to get meout of trouble, every time”

Kilmarnock In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014

House Plant

Blackwood Plant Hire wasestablished in 1960 by TomBlackwood senior and is nowrun by son Tom Blackwoodjunior. The company suppliesmobile plant and equipmentto major Scottish contractorsincluding Land Engineering Ltd,Raynesway, Carillion CivilEngineering, Scottish Waterand is now Link Up Approved tomeet the requirements ofNetwork Rail.The company prides itself onsupplying a prompt, reliableand helpful service at all times,and is confident that thequality of its equipment andstandard of service is secondto none. A tall order for theamazingly diverse fleet of 220excavators, tippers,

telehandlers, and rubber ducks fromJCB, Caterpillar, Volvo, Komatsu,Kubota, New Holland and Takeuchi.The logistics of maintaining thesemachines has changed the face ofthe company in recent years.“We have steadily improved thefacilities at the yard and we arebuilding a new workshop to ensurethat maintenance and servicing canbe carried out in the best workingconditions possible. The entire site is

now hard standing,so it just needs theoccasional sweep tokeep it clean. Thisgreatly improvesthe workingenvironment andmakes work somuch moreefficient,” explainsservice managerDavid McMaster.“The fleet isalways busy soturnaround hasto be quick andcorrect first

time. That's why we use Pirtek. We have a big

spread of machinesand that means weneed a huge rangeof hydraulic hose,fittings andfixtures, on handat short notice,24/7, particularlyas the machinescould be workinganywhere in thecountry.”As Davidexplains, thiscalls for supportfrom across the

Pirtek network. “We use Pirtek Kilmarnockall the time, and their MSST Bryan McPike is heremost days. But we have used Pirtek Centres inInverness, Perth, Leeds, St Albans and just aboutall the London Pirtek Centres with the same goodresults. I just pick up the phone and PirtekKilmarnock sort the problem. I don't need to thinkabout it again. It keeps unscheduled downtime toan absolute minimum. When we looked at ourhydraulic needs we entered into a three waytender and Pirtek won on just about every aspectof their proposal, especially service and call out.They offered so much more, and their engineersknow our fleet and requirements. We have alarge selection of attachments, shears, grabs andhammers, all need hoses, and as they areparticularly prone to damage,” David McMasterconcludes. “No matter which Pirtek Centre doesthe work, we geta faultlessservice fromthem. Toensure weprovide ourcustomers withan excellentservice, evenout of hoursand atweekends, wecan always callon Pirtek. Weare very happywith theirservice.”

Pirtek Kilmarnock is doing well; in fact the Centre has just returned itsbest figures for a long time. Could it be down to the service it offersclients? Stewarton-based Blackwood Plant Hire certainly thinks so.

Erith www.pirtek.eu

Equipped with a 1,440kg Rotar, RSG 700 rotatinggrab, the machine deals with recyclable materialbrought in by the public. The machine sortssuitable material into ro-ro bins for futurerecycling.As the only machine on site, it was instantlymissed when it was put out of action with a burst3', 25 mm WP350bar/5000psi grab hose from themain block. By a happy coincidence, the PirtekErith service van was already on route to the sitewith a regular delivery of hydraulic oil. The Sennebogen was sitting in a large pool ofhydraulic oil; a potential environmental hazard.This was dealt with using a Pirtek spill kitmaterial before work on the hose could begin.“This is a particularly awkward job as the hosewas one of a twin bank of hoses, and of coursethe damaged hose was on the back row, meaningthat a lot of other hoses had to be removedbefore the faulty one could be repair andreplaced,” says operations manager Fred Thomas.“The machine is used seven days a week without abreak, so it has a pretty hard life. The site is veryefficient and we recycle 85 percent of the 12,000tonnes of material brought in here, the rest goingto the KCC incinerator at Allington, nearMaidstone. If the material handler goes down,then we can't do anything at this site. It's vital tooperations, so it's good to see Pirtek on the caseto get us working again.

I can rely on PirtekErith to come tothe rescue as theyrespond veryquickly and theirwork is good.”

Dartford based John Slattery Ltd operates recycling centres for Kent CountyCouncil. At the heart of its operations at the Dartford B Council tip is anunusual 24 tonne, 12 metre Sennebogen wheeled material handler thatrecently needed some TLC from Pirtek Erith MSST, Tim Canning.

Attention Grabber

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014Ireland

Orginally a native of CoFermanagh in NorthernIreland, but now based inHull, Lee proved a worthychoice as he took his firstever North West win duringThursday night’s racing,picking up first place in theSupertwin race with IvanLintin in second and JamesCowton taking thirdplace.

There were three races on Thursday evening andfive on Saturday, consisting of two in each class:

Superstock,Supersport,Supertwin andSuperbike). The first race onSaturday was theSupersport class andLee was leading therace in the final lapwhen he was involved inan incident with AlistairSealey at the Metropolecorner and unfortunatelyboth riders crashed out .Because of this crash

Lee missed out on the next race, the Superbike,but came back with his second win taking the

Around two million people logged on from nearly every part of the world towatch the Vauxhall International 2014 North West 200, Ireland’s largestsporting event and one of the world’s fastest road races.Pirtek have sponsored the Mathers Cross Chicane at the NW200 for the lasttwo years and have increased their support in 2014 by sponsoring the PirtekSuperstock race as well as the Mathers Cross chicane.To enhance Pirtek’s presence, Pirtek UK also agreed to sponsor Lee Johnstonacross the four main classes.

NW200Super Twinclass again,beating MichaelDunlop intosecond place. The Superstockrace on Saturdaywas stoppedearly due to anaccident in whichrider SimonAndrews was critically injured.

Lee, in his Pirtek colours,can be seen again asPirtek continue hissponsorship during theseason, which will includethe Isle of Man TT, Ulster Grand Prix, Scarborough.. BTCC champion Andrew Jordan came to theNW200 and met with Lee, as well as judging theMiss North West contest as an added bonus. Andrew took the opportunity of paying asurprise visit to one of Belfast’s customers,Peadar Sheridan at Crossland Tankers. Peadar isa massive fan of Andrew and the BTCCcompetion. Peadar emailed Pirtek to say “Hi, just a weemessage to say thanks to you for the opportunityof meeting Andrew Jordan. It really was aprivilege to meet a legend in person, it was reallythoughtful of you guy’s at Pirtek, no one has everdone anything like that for me before.”

www.pirtek.euEdinburgh

Pirtek Edinburgh MSST Ian Aitken, is a regularvisitor to the site. He plays a variety of roles atUphall, sometimes it will be simply to providereplacement hoses for the Nationwide fitters toinstall, other times it will be to tackle a morecomplex task.Recently, having just delivered two replacement10 mm hoses for a 7.9 metre Genie platform,Atkin was about to leave the site when he wasasked to replace the steering drive hoses on asmall Genie platform. The machine is typical ofthose used for internal warehouse work by thelikes of B&Q, and has to be compact to work inthe tight operating areas of a warehouseenvironment. However because of the internal

operating environment and the close proximityto the general public, any suspicion of a leakmeans the hydraulic hoses will be replaced toensure maximum environmental and health andsafety working conditions.Location Service Manager, Bryan Hardie didn'tenvy Ian his task. “These are particularlyawkward machines to work on as the hoses runright through and under the platform. The

The Uphall depot just outside of Edinburgh is the third largest Nationwidecentre in the UK. It has 380 items of powered access equipment available tocustomers from the two divisions operating from the site. They can provideeverything from a tiny 2.5 metre Nano Power Tower, to the huge 155' GenieMWEP, plus just about everything in between, including van and lorry mountedplatforms. But servicing such a large and varied fleet requires the input ofPirtek Edinburgh.

service access areas are very cramped. Howeverthis is typical of the service we can expect fromPirtek. They take on these sorts of jobs withoutcomplaint. We have to provide an immaculateservice to our customers which means we can'tprovide a platform with the slightest hint of aleak or we would soon get a complaint,” Bryanexplains. “We have to provide a customer servicethat is second to none. It is vitally important toprovide a machine in perfect condition and ensureit remains so whilst working on site. If anythingdoes go wrong, or the machine is damaged, I knowI only have to pick up the phone, and Pirtek will bethere to put it right. We have three Pirtekengineers who regularly service our platforms,and Pirtek retains our business because thoseengineers are so good. You get what you pay for,and I know I can rely on them being available 24/7to make sure our customers have safe, workingmachines.”Pirtek Edinburgh have recently put an impressedstock into the site and the Nationwide engineershave been trained by Martyn Smart and Darren toassemble hoses themselves

Sound Platform

In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014 Pirtek Europe

Pirtek Falkirk helped VolvoConstruction Equipment with somelast minute work to make its standone of the more noticeable displays,piping up four of thecompany’s machinesto takedemonstrationattachments atthe last moment.This greatlyenhanced thestand asCustomerSupport SalesManager,Andrew Swanexplained, ashe stood infront of a newly sold A30G

articulated dumptruck nowbelonging to Ward Plant Limited.“Volvo Construction Equipment isa long-standing customer of Pirtek,and we have a particularly goodrelationship with Pirtek Falkirk whoprovide a lot of support for ourStirling Centre. They came in at shortnotice, just before the show, to addattachment hoses to a variety of ourequipment, so we could demonstrate

two rotating head buckets, a grab and a borer onthe available equipment,” he says. “Pirtek is verygood at this sort of service and we knew wecould rely on them to react quickly to ourrequest. In fact they were here at 9.30 am andall the machines were on a low loader fordelivery to Scotplant by lunchtime. Volvo is amarket leader, and we take a real pride in ourequipment and customer service. To ensurethat our machines work to their maximumefficiency, we often use Pirtek to providereplacement hydraulic hoses as part of ourcustomer service. Because of the vastrange of different equipment sold to ourcustomers, it would be physicallyimpossible to stock every type of

hydraulic hose replacement at Stirling. Wefind it is much more practical, and faster touse Pirtek to provide this side of the business.”

Falkirk

Scotplant 2014 saw a lot of Pirtek customers showing off their wares. However thepreparation of the equipment requires a lot of advance planning to ensure that theright plant, in the best format, is available for demonstration on the day. Once that isestablished, each company then has to decide how best to show off the equipment.With such a high turnover of equipment, this wasn't the easiest of tasks for Volvo.

Pipe Up Although this last-minute exhibition work wasunusual, the service received by Volvo is preciselywhat Volvo and its customers have come toexpect. “Hoses get damaged all the time. Andcustomers rightly insist on the shortest timepossible to get their machine back into service.They need their machine back in service NOW,”Andrew Swan concludes. “So we depend onPirtek to provide an excellent on-site breakdownservice to keep our customers satisfied. We arehappy to use Pirtek products as they represent aviable alternative to the quality of original OEMparts.. We have to guarantee our machines willwork, every time, all the time, and we haveconfidence in Pirtek to help us deliver thatservice.”

BTCC In the pipeline Quarter 3 2014www.pirtek.eu

Jordan battles in super-competitive BTCC

Pirtek Racing’s AndrewJordan is racing hard todefend his Dunlop MSABritish Touring CarChampionship title inwhat is proving to be themost competitive seasonfor more than a decade.

With record crowds andunrivalled live TVcoverage, the BTCC isenjoying an incredibleseason and Andrew is

right in the thick of the championship contest inthe Pirtek Honda Civic.

After half of the season’s 30 races, and as theteams and drivers head into the mid-seasonbreak, Andrew lies third overall in the points, 28behind Colin Turkington and 21 down on GordonShedden. With seven former BTCC champions inthe top 11, the sell-out 32-car field is incrediblystrong and Andrew is currently well clear in thepoints of drivers like Matt Neal, Alain Menu andFabrizio Giovanardi.

The season started superbly at Brands Hatch inlate March when Andrew won twice to take animmediate championship lead. “My aim was toget pole at Brands and win the first race whenno-one has any success ballast,” he said. “So towin the first two races and go away leading thechampionship was great.”

However, that early success came with a penaltyas it meant the Pirtek car was running maximum

success ballast forthe second event atDonington Park.“We’ve had a lot ofweight on from thefirst race at BrandsHatch and soDonington was anokay weekend,” saidAndrew, whomaintained hisoverall series lead.

The high-speed sweeps of Thruxton alwaysfavour the gifted and the brave and Andrew set ascorching pace. “I knew we’d be quick atThruxton: I’d had pole for the last three yearsand finally converted it into a win,” he said aftera mighty performance. “I couldn’t have imaginedwinning three out of the first nine races. We haveto be consistent and some circuits will suit youand some won’t.”

However, it all came back to earth with a bump atOulton Park where an interrupted qualifyingsession added to maximum ballast on a track lay-out that made overtaking incredibly difficult ledto a frustrating weekend. “We always knewOulton Park would be a hard weekend,” he said.Andrew raced as hard as he could, but earnedlittle reward as the flying BMW of Turkingtonswept to the head of the points.

At Croft, as the season reached the mid-point, asuperb victory in the final race was Andrew’sfourth win of the season. “In the reverse gridrace three you’ve got to be savvy and smartabout how you push forwards,” he said afterstarting back in sixth on the grid.

Now comes the summer break, but there will belittle respite for Andrew and the team. They havelots of ideas about how to squeeze some moresmall improvements from the Pirtek Honda Civicin order to be in good shape when the seasonresumes at Snetterton (Norfolk) on 2/3 August.“We’re always trying new things anddevelopments,” said Andrew. “We’ve got to keepworking at it!”