25 Year UK Rental Success for Bobcat Excavators

Dave Moore, the owner of Nottinghamshire-based Richmond Plant Hire Ltd and a very well respected figure in the UK rental equipment industry with over 35 years in the business, has created another milestone by completing over 25 years of purchasing Bobcat compact excavators for his companies. This achievement is a tremendous testimony to the success of the Bobcat range in the same year that the company also celebrates 25 years in the compact excavator market.

Commenting on the last 25 years, Dave Moore said: "Over all these years, I wouldn't have changed anything – I've always been happy with everything Bobcat has done and have been impressed how the company has listened to our feedback when they've been designing new generation machines. In the rental industry, customers are looking for a reliable service matched by the right products. The Bobcat range of excavators meets all the credentials for hire industry products."

One of the first Bobcat Compact Excavators in the UK
Dave's association with the Bobcat brand began in 1987 with the purchase of one of the first in the UK of the Bobcat X119 compact excavators launched that year from Kass Plant, a former Bobcat dealer based in Scunthorpe. As the first Bobcat compact excavator in Nottinghamshire, the X119 model took pride of place in the fleet run by Dave's company, Newark Plant & Tool Hire. Dave subsequently sold the business to national rental company, Cox Plant, where he was Northern Regional Manager and was responsible for the purchase of many more Bobcat excavators for the 13 depots in his region at the time.

This marked the beginning of a close relationship that continues to today with Loughborough-based Butler Reynolds, the Authorised Bobcat Dealer for Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Rutland, Birmingham and the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. So when Dave left Cox Plant and later formed another company, Moore Plant Services based at Cromwell outside Newark, he continued to purchase Bobcat compact excavators from Butler Reynolds.

Throughout the 1990s, successively larger models were added to the Bobcat range, including the 5-tonne 337 model and its 341 long arm variant. At the time, the range also included the popular 320 and 325 excavators, together with the 328 long arm variant of the 325 model. Continued success saw an expansion of the hire fleet at Moore Plant Services, with the addition of Bobcat 341, 328 and 320 models purchased from Butler Reynolds.

Moore Plant Services was later bought by a company called J & S Plant, which in due course was purchased by the national rental company, the GAP Group, but Dave Moore returned to the rental industry in his own right with the establishment in March 2007 of Richmond Plant Hire. The company grew rapidly from an initial order of 10 Bobcat excavators from Butler Reynolds to what is now one of the largest small excavator rental companies in the East Midlands with over 50 machines, with a fleet covering weights from 0.8 to 8 tonne.

The formation of Richmond Plant Hire coincided with the expansion of the Bobcat product line in 2007 with the launch of the 425 Zero Tail Swing (ZTS) mini-excavator with an operating weight of 2649 kg.

The new fleet at Richmond Plant Hire included the first major order for the new Bobcat 425 and Dave Moore commented: "The 425 has the performance of a genuine 3-tonner, but because it weighs less than 2.7 tonne, it is legal to tow on a trailer with two buckets – this is a very attractive feature for plant hirers and their customers." As well as the 425 models, Richmond Plant Hire also took delivery of new Bobcat 341 and 320 excavators from Butler Reynolds.

Richmond Plant Hire Expands
2008 saw Richmond Plant Hire move to purpose built premises adjacent to the A1 motorway, this new location giving easier access to the road networks in and around Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. In September 2009, the opportunity for further expansion came about with the acquisition of the Mansfield branch of BHE Ltd, providing a much wider range of equipment, allowing Richmond Plant Hire to supply virtually any product for the plant and tool hire market.

In early 2008, Bobcat launched the first models in the company's new generation E Series: the E08 and E10 micro-excavators designed and manufactured at the company's plant at Dobris in the Czech Republic. At the other end of the range, Bobcat subsequently launched the new E60, the company's first ever 6-tonne model and the E80, a new 8-tonne model. Hard on the heels of these products, Bobcat launched the E14 1.4 and E16 1.6 tonne compact excavators, replacing the 319, 321 and 323 models and, during 2010 and 2011, the new Bobcat E26, E45, E50 and E55 compact excavators were all introduced.

Richmond Plant Hire continues to go from strength to strength with the latest order for five Bobcat E14 new generation mini-excavators just delivered by Butler Reynolds to add to the Bobcat E50, E60 and E80 excavators purchased from Butler Reynolds over the last twelve months.