The latest purchase comes on the back of a deal at the end of 2011 that saw GAP buy Cat equipment from dealer Finning for the first time in a number of years. This initial deal was for 91 Cat mini excavators. For many years GAP had favoured Japanese brands.
GAP group procurement manager Ken Stewart said: “Having integrated a range of Cat machines into our plant hire fleet for the first time at the end of 2011, we have been impressed with the robustness of the units and their ability to withstand the operator techniques of multiple customers. We have equally been impressed with both Caterpillar and Finning in listening to our demanding requirements and accommodating us accordingly. To date they have been extremely proactive and flexible and this has been welcomed in today’s challenging commercial environment”.
He added: “The units have performed particularly well for what is notoriously the most difficult test for plant in a hire environment. By maintaining a strong level of uptime and being popular with customers, the Cat units have shown us for the first time the positive commercial impact they can have on our business.
“Plant hire at the moment is an extremely competitive market where unit cost is important and uptime crucial. We have a very diverse customer base and to meet their requirements we currently operate a large fleet of excavators ranging in size from 0.8t to 8.0t, mainly of Japanese manufacture. Our initial investment in the Cat machines certainly proved to be a good financial decision and this is why we decided to purchase more machines to bolster our fleet for 2013”.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
