Page 124 - ITUK Press Cuttings 2017

PROFI LE

ND Brown's customers are
the utilities companies that have
to reinstatc road surfaces they have
dug up; local authorities; major colltractors
that specialise in maintaining the highway network; and
Hot stuff subcontractors who work for them. "Demand for our

vehicles is verv strong," says Fernyhough.
On the face of it that's surprising, given that budget
cuts rnean most local councils are chronically short of
cash' "In an ideal world thel'would resurface roads
galore. but they haven't got the funds so they have to
When it comes to rentlng out trucks fitted patch and repair them instead." he says. "That's when
our ki1 comes to the fore."
with hot boxes to transport asphaLt then
Workshops at depots
ND Brown is the specialist to turn to Austerity also means local authorities do not have the
cash to acquire assets such as vehicles, so they often rent
By slqyq !q!!gl instead. "When they don't need a truck they can simply
off-hire it." Fernyhough says.
GIVEN THE STATE of Britain s roads. ND Brown's ND Brown also operates out of depots in Witheridge,
customers are unlikely to run out of work anY time soon. near Tiverton in Devon, Plean, not far from Stirling and
The Slade Heath,Wolverhampton-based company, Falkirk, and Tonbridge in Kent, which opened a couple
chaired by Nigel Brown, specialises in renting out trucks of years ago. Like the head office, they all have their own
fitted with hot boxes designed to transport asphalt at workshops.
temperatures that should ensure a road repair lasts' "We've got a presence in Belfast as well," says
These vehicles gross from 75 tonnes to 26 tonnes and Fernyhough. "We've got about 20 vehicles there."
Brown also hires out 75-tonne,12-tonne. and 1S-tonne
insulated tippers with asphalt chutes,26-tonne and
32-tonne tipper/grabs, 75-tonne cage tippers and
75-tonners with beavertail bodies.
"The rental fleet is just over 450 vehicles strong and
around 220 of them have got hot boxes," says MD Mark
Fernyhough. "We've got gulley-emptiers and road
sweepers available too. We added them within the past
12 months."
The former are bodied by Whale Tankers, while the rl
o latter are typically 15-tonne truck-based sweepers
bodied by Johnston. "We're also bringing small
volumetric asphalt plants on to the fleet that can mix
ui
E asphalt in 200kg batches on site," says Fernyhough.
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