by Nick Drew | Wed 17 Feb 2016
Happy Birthday DIGBITS
Well known excavator spares, bucket and attachment supplier DIGBITS is celebrating its 25th birthday this year, an impressive milestone we are proud to mark here on the Digger Man Blog with some background information on the business and some classic archive photos from the firms early days.
Cast your mind back to 1991. Here’s a quick summary of events to jog your memory:
Iraq invades Kuwait
Boris Yeltsin wins the very first free elections in Russia
Referendum in South Africa creates a new constitution and Apartheid is dismantled
Maastricht Treaty lifts trade restrictions within the EEC
Everything I Do by my personal all-time favourite artist Bryan Adams spent 16 weeks in the charts.
In that same year a single rubber track for a 1.5 tonne mini excavator, bought from the OEM dealer would likely cost you around £300.00 + VAT. That’s each track and yes, we know you can get a very high quality Camso track for well under £200 + VAT these days a fact which, in part (in the UK) is down to one firm.
DIGBITS was actually established towards the end of 1990 by John Clay. John’s background was based in sales of construction equipment, first with Priestman Bros of Hull, then as area sales manager with Ruston Bucyrus, then as excavator sales manager for JCB. John’s next two jobs moved into the specialist area of US built trenching equipment, initially for Vermeer UK, but then for the UK importer of Trencor Jetco machines.
It was in the last job that, through the expertise in spares back-up he was developing, customers began to ask him about parts for another breed of machine that were rapidly gaining popularity; the mini excavator.
For this reason, DIGBITS initially catered for the growing UK mini excavator and chain trencher market, but since became specialist in spare parts and attachments for all types of excavators, up to 80 tonnes operating weight.
John’s son Marcus was hi-jacked part-way through studying for a Mechnical Engineering degree at what was called Manchester Polytechnic to join the start-up. A deal of free board and lodgings, plus a company van was struck and he joined full time after final exams for his HND. In 1993, the company became a partnership – father and son then sharing the risk jointly and severally - and traded as such until 2003 when it incorporated, still under the same 50:50 ownership.
The firm now has a turnover measured in millions, 19 full time employees several of whom have served over 10 years and one who has been with the firm for 25 years this year, plus two apprentices. In the long run, DIGBITS firmly believe that the only route to success is through looking after both customers and the work force and that, furthermore, the latter reinforces the former.