H&C Dickie acquire Sheba Plant.

H&C Dickie Ltd the Scottish based crushing and screening contractor have announced that they have acquired their English counterpart Sheba Plant Ltd.
The move will see the formation of Britain’s largest crushing and screening group with a fleet of over 80 items of plant including crushers, screeners, aggregate washing plant, loading shovels, excavators, etc. Retaining the current bases in Central Scotland and the Midlands will give the group truly nationwide coverage. Current work is spread from Shetland in the North to Cornwall in the south.
"Our largest clients are the quarry majors, civil engineering contractors, and utility companies." said Hubert Dickie, chairman H&C Dickie "Each of these operates all over the UK so it makes sense that we do so also."

Whilst each company will continue to operate individually to provide clients with the local service they are accustomed to, the two companies will combine resources and expertise. "With areas such as Health & Safety becoming increasingly expensive to comply with, we can take advantage of an economy of scale to ensure we remain well compliant with client and governmental regulations" said Colin Dickie.
"Sheba Plant is a company we’ve long admired and have worked beside them well in recent years often cross-hiring plant between ourselves" Campbell Dickie, Managing Director.

H&C Dickie is a family owned and run company originally from Shetland. With experience running a quarry since the early 80’s the family built up a sizable operation supplying rock for local infrastructure and export. To cope with an exceptional job, a large investment in new plant was made in the quarry, with the understanding that when the job finished that the plant would have to be sold or found work for on mainland Scotland. In Autumn 2000 Campbell Dickie moved down to Fife, Scotland to begin a small crushing contract.
Since then the company has sold off much of its other interests and focused its attention on contract crushing. Through organic growth H&C Dickie became the largest contract crusher in Scotland and was eager to extend its reach into England.
"Although we had won substantial contracts in England, we were finding it difficult to find continuous work to justify setting up a permanent base" explains Campbell "Not only did Sheba offer a permanent base it also provides steady work, new clients, a loyal workforce, and 35 years experience in the industry."

Sheba Plant Ltd was formed in 1977 by Derick Parker and is now synonymous with contract crushing throughout the UK. "This is a new chapter in Sheba’s long history" explains Derick, who remains with the company "The two companies had a very similar philosophy so by combining forces it can only be positive for everyone"

"Looking forward we plan to grow both companies and offer clients more comprehensive solutions" Colin says, "Sheba Plant’s existing experience and expertise in sand and gravel processing was an attraction in the acquisition that will allow the group to offer this service nationwide". "Many clients are discovering that contract crushing is a real alternative to crushing in-house. We offer financially competitive rates with no capex or upfront payments and take much of the associated risk."
The philosophy of the new group is to bring contract crushing into the twenty-first century with the provision of more sophisticated services. The modern quarrier demands fixed prices, flexible production and guaranteed quality, all while maintaining strict Health & Safety discipline. "The one man band doesn’t have the resources to double production on demand nor does he have the financial strength to guarantee production" explains Colin "We provide peace of mind to our customers, and still compete on price".

Further information:

Colin Dickie
Director
H & C Dickie Ltd
2 Cunningham Road
Springkerse Ind. Estate
Stirling
FK7 7SW
 
Tel: +44 1786 478 114
Email: colin@dickie.zetnet.co.uk