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Having weathered the downturn, Chippindale is seeing growth in a number of industry sectors, and is now expanding its fleet to meet increasing demand from customers across the north and the midlands.
Chippindale will take delivery later this year of 50 JCB Loadall telehandlers from Sheffield dealer TC Harrison JCB. The deal includes 535-140 Hi-Viz models, 7m and 10m machines and six 540-170 telescopics, with a 17m working height. Chippindale has also taken delivery of low headroom 524-50 models.
“We shed almost 40% of the telescopic fleet in the recession,” says joint managing director Nigel Chippindale. “Since we’ve started expanding the telehandler fleet again we’ve focused on JCB as that’s what our customers want – specifically it’s what the man driving it wants.”
Chippindale Plant was founded in 1949 by the late Wilfred Chippindale, who set up a business from his home in Leeds with £100 of his savings, selling concrete and scaffolding. Today the business is still family owned, run by Wilfred’s grandsons Nigel and Peter Chippindale. The company is now one of the UK’s largest privately-owned plant hire and sales companies, employing 86 people and has other depots in Catterick, Huddersfield, Keighley, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.
It has grown steadily over the years and today runs 140 JCB Loadall telehandlers in a total plant fleet of more than 2,500 tools and machines.
Nigel Chippindale added: “We rode out the recession with a combination of cut-backs, pay cuts and tough decisions, but we have come out stronger. Everyone took a pay cut but we managed to maintain and grow the business during the recession. We’ve had steady expansion and now operate from seven depots, from Newcastle to Sheffield. We have machines working from the Scottish Borders down to Derbyshire.
“The market is extremely busy at the moment, it’s the busiest that it’s been since before the recession. Mainly it is being led by house builders, but there is a general feel good factor in commercial building and civil engineering too. “
With all sectors of the construction industry showing strong recovery and expansion, he predicts further growth in demand for self-drive plant.
“We have looked at the new 20m JCB machines and we are considering them, though we haven’t been asked for one by customers yet,” said Mr Chippindale. “We’ve also looked at rotating machines, but have dismissed them as too complex for the self-drive market.
“We’d like to get back up above 200 telescopic machines again and at the moment JCB is our preferred supplier.”
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