Shropshire Star

Plant hire firm strengthens fleet with £12m investment

A Shropshire plant hire company has invested £12 million in a deal with Redditch-based Marubeni-Komatsu for new machinery for its hire fleet.

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Mark Winfield, Rob Jones, Sharon Jones, Sarah Offland and Tim Jones

Ridgway Rentals, based near Oswestry, has placed an order of 130 new Komatsu machines, including a mixture of excavators, bulldozers and loading shovels ranging from 2.5 to 50 tonnes.

“Our focus on this latest investment has been on updating our fleet with highly efficient, environmentally-friendly equipment,” said company chairman, Tim Jones.

Ridgway has seen demand for its plant hire services soar over recent years, especially to environmental agencies and in the waste and recycling industries.

It said it has become renowned for specialist machine hire that exactly matches its customers’ requirements plus it offers these machines on long-term contract hire, an essential budgeting tool in today’s uncertain climate.

Machines include super long front excavators with reaches up to 22 metres that come supplied with the CE certification and lifting charts that are necessary for environment agency work unlike other machines that have been altered after manufacture.

More specialist machines include loading shovels built to the specific requirements of waste and recycling sites including solid tyres, high tip buckets and fire suppression equipment.

“Supplying machines that match our customers exact requirements is vital for this industry with so many strict health and safety obligations to adhere to,” said Stuart Jones, MD.

The deal involving the two companies was supported by Barclays.

Sarah Offland, Barclays corporate banking, relationship director, said “We have been able to support Ridgway through rapid expansion over the last few years via a range of flexible funding options and asset finance lines. Ever evolving, we are now exploring a range of further 'green finance' options to support the company’s commitment to its strong environmental practices.”

Komatsu intelligent machine control (IMC) machines also feature in this order. Ridgway was the first UK company to purchase IMC excavators and dozers in 2017 and said it has seen demand for these grow as its customers discover the huge benefits they bring to a worksite.

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