13
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
JULY-AUGUST 2013
ACCESS, LIFT & HANDLERS
HIGHLIGHTS
■
Intermat Middle East will
now take place on January
14-16, 2014, at the Abu Dhabi,
UAE, National Exhibition Centre
(ADNEC). The exhibition had been
scheduled to take place a week
later in January, but the dates
clashed with the World Future
Energy Summit.
■
France-based Manitou is
planning to open an assembly
plant in Brazil within the next
two years and is set to double
its production of booms within
five years. The manufacturer’s
interim CEO Dominique Bamas
told sister publication
Access
International
an assembly plant
would be its only new facility
in the immediate future, as
the company’s main focus of
expansion would be through new
dealerships and the expansion
of existing ones in countries
like Russia. The plant would
assemble a range of Manitou
products, but which ones those
are have not been confirmed.
■
France-based Haulotte has
opened a new sales subsidiary in
Mumbai, India. The facility is part
of the manufacturer’s expansion
strategy in emerging markets,
which, it said, includes a strong
sales network in BRIC countries.
Alexandre Saubot, Haulotte chief
operating officer, explained that
local subsidiaries like this benefit
from local knowledge and their
ability to create their own identity
and sales and dealer network,
as well as establishing binding
relationships with customers
“to provide them products
that fit their requirements and
additional services, like training,
spare parts, financial solutions,
etcetera.”
Mills orders $41.6M worth of
aerial work platform equipment
New CEO for JCB
Graeme Macdonald is to
take the reins as CEO of
construction equipment
manufacturer JCB at the end
of this year, when current CEO
Alan Blake retires.
Macdonald was previously
COO of JCB and became CEO
designate on June 1. During
his 16 years at the company,
he was also managing director
of the backhoe loader business
and president of JCB Inc – the
manufacturer’s North America
base in Georgia.
JCB said Blake, who joined
JCB in 1989 and became CEO
in 2010, had overseen the
biggest production expansion in
the company’s history.
“Since his appointment as
CEO, Alan has presided over
the company’s return to sales
and production growth against
a backdrop of continued
economic uncertainty around
the world,” JCB said.
Blake will remain as a senior
advisor and board member of
JCB.
John Ball leaving Height for
Hire for other opportunities
Height for Hire has announced
that John Ball, managing director,
is resigning from the company and
pursue other business interests.
Ball joined the company
in 1986 when he opened its
Limerick branch and was
appointed managing director in
1993, at which time it had three
locations in Ireland. Since then
he has overseen the company’s
expansion into mainland UK,
as Easi UpLifts, as well as the
acquisition of the SCS business in
Slovakia.
He also served for many years
on the board of the International
Powered Access Federation (IPAF)
and was president of IPAF from
2008 to 2010.
A timescale for Ball’s departure
has not been confirmed and
Height for Hire has not made any
comment yet on the identity of his
Brazilian company Mills Estruturas
e Serviços de Engenharia (Mills)
has placed orders for new aerial
work platforms worth $41.6
million, with monthly deliveries
starting this month until the end of
the year.
The contracts follow the
increase in the capital expenditure
budget announced in May “to
meet the strong market demand
and [Mills’] geographic expansion,
through 12 new branch openings
in 2013.”
In May the company increased
its capital expenditure budget for
this year by more than 60 percent
to R$481million ($226 million),
including a more than doubling of
its budget for the Rental division,
to R$274 million ($129 million).
Sergio Kariya, director of
Mills Estruturas e Serviços de
Engenharia (Mills).
Height for Hire’s managing director,
John Ball, far right, stands with Time-
Versalift’s managing director Steve
Couling (middle) and Riwal’s regional
director Wayne Lawson (left) at the
2013 International Awards for Powered
Access event in Miami.
successor, if there is one.
“John’s energy and dynamism
have contributed significantly to
the growth and success of the
group within the access industry
and for this I thank him and wish
him all the best as he pursues
other business interests,” said
company founder Harry McArdle.
Ball said, “I have been
associated with Height For Hire/
Easi UpLifts group for close to 30
years now, serving for the last 20
years as its managing director. It
has been a great privilege to work
with such a dedicated board and
team over that time and I sincerely
thank them for their support.”
