News

Leigh Plant Hire adds to Kubota fleet

“Since I started buying Kubota mini excavators 12 years ago, I’ve never gone back,” said Ian Leigh, Director of Leigh Plant Hire, Matthews and Leigh Civil Engineering and of Leigh Homes Construction.

“All of my smaller excavators, at 8-tonnes, 5-tonnes and the 3-tonne machines are Kubota, they make up around half of my excavator fleet.”

The latest addition to that fleet is a Kubota U56-5 mini excavator. Purchased as a replacement for an older model, the 5.5-tonne excavator is perfect for the company’s house building and civil engineering sites. Powered by a 35kW (47.6hp) Kubota Stage V diesel engine, the reduced tailswing machine boasts a load-sensing hydraulic system that delivers a combination of fuel efficiency and productivity.

Based in Leyland, Lancashire, the construction and plant hire companies are jointly run by Ian and his brother Andy. The civil engineering business was established initially, in 1998, with the plant hire company joining the portfolio in 2008. Though operating as a separate business, the plant hire company is solely dedicated to supplying the building and civil engineering firms, with no external clients.

Leigh Plant Hire has around 60 excavators in its equipment fleet, with operating weights of 3-30 tonnes. The company also operates compaction machinery, site dumpers, dozers and larger articulated haulers and it aims to provide all of the plant and machinery that is required by the group’s civils and housebuilding sites. All of the machines are supplied to site with skilled operators.

“We don’t hire anything in, unless it’s something more specialist for one of our sites,” said Mr Leigh.

The businesses operate throughout the North-West corridor, from a head office in Leyland, Lancashire. Along with projects across the surrounding counties, the construction and building businesses carry out extensive works within cities like Manchester and Liverpool. While civil engineering projects have slowed over the last year, there has been plenty of house building work, including social housing.

“We’re getting really busy again at present,” said Mr Leigh.

All of the Kubota machines have been supplied through local dealer P.V. Dobson and supported by their Chorley depot. While Leigh has its own service engineers, the dealer provides essential back-up and parts when required. However, it is the availability of stock that is particularly important for Leigh.

“Dobson are brilliant. The best thing for me is that they always have machines in stock. If I call up wanting a 5-tonne or an 8-tonne machine, it would be here next week, they always have availability,” said Mr Leigh.

“We don’t have fixed replacement within the fleet, I change machines when they look like they need to be changed, as we like to maintain a good image on site. We change the machines on a rolling basis and I usually have roughly one new machine a month.”

“Leigh Plant Hire is constantly investing in new machinery from market leading brands like Kubota,” said Matthew Rowlinson, Commercial Manager, Industrial Machinery, at P.V. Dobson.

“The company is well known for its approach to quality construction and we at P.V. Dobson are delighted to provide a complete back-up service to support our customers throughout the region.”

There is currently no requirement for the plant hire business to continue to expand, as its customers are the building and civils companies. However, Mr Leigh is keen to maintain a fleet of equipment that always meets the varying needs of the construction firms.

“We have enough machinery in the fleet, but we like to keep turning it over to ensure that we have the latest technology available,” he said.

The company also looks set to maintain its relationship with Kubota and with the dealer. “I don’t think we’ve ever had to do anything to one of the Kubotas other than regular servicing,” said Mr Leigh.

Tell us your news story: News@EarthmoversMagazine.co.uk