-       Christchurch  business expansion to support post-earthquake construction market

Mabey Group has announced its acquisition of APlant Hire and its entry into the Australasian shoring market. Known as Mabey Hire PTY Ltd (Aust) & Mabey Hire Ltd (NZ), the company launched its hire operations from the existing three depots in Australia and one in New Zealand.

Mabey will use the newly acquired depots in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Christchurch to provide the construction and engineering industry with a unique range of rental and resell equipment; including aluminum shoring boxes and safety handrails, steel road-plates, bridging, sheet piling and hydraulic supports; with the potential to add further Mabey products in the future.

Expansion plans, based on those of Mabey Hire UK, include the addition of numerous depots in Australia and New Zealand in the next 12 months.

Mabey’s commitment to enter the Australasian market is a direct reflection of construction work levels in all Australian states and territories rising above decade averages. The expansion of our New Zealand business aims to provide construction teams with the equipment needed to support the decade of repairs required following two major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.

The acquisition now complete, expansion plans will progress under the management of Kyle McShane, who has been appointed as Managing Director of Mabey Hire PTY Ltd, based at the head office in Brisbane. McShane is tasked with managing strategic growth in Australasia and draws on his knowledge and experience from over twenty years in the Australian Civil Construction Hire market.

“This is a significant addition to the Mabey family and an important step forward in the Group’s global expansion plans,” said Peter Lloyd, CEO, Mabey Holdings Ltd. “We are excited to be increasing our global footprint whilst at the same time helping to tackle some of the toughest engineering challenges created by natural disasters. I look forward to a year of continued diversification and expansion.”

“I am excited by the opportunity this acquisition brings and am delighted to join Mabey, a company with strong family heritage and a reputation for excellence in global infrastructure,” comments Kyle McShane, Managing Director at Mabey Hire PTY Ltd. “I look forward to bringing my knowledge of Australia’s hire market to expand upon our successful offering in Australasia.”

This follows Mabey’s series of initiatives announced in 2012 to dramatically grow its global footprint, including the doubling of its US operations and establishment of Mabey Hire International in Singapore as a springboard for developing business in Asia.

Mabey – a family-owned UK engineering giant – has announced an ambitious international expansion programme in a bid to grow turnover from £150m to £200m by 2014.

The company – which employs 1100 and is best known for manufacturing, supplying and erecting bridges worldwide – intends to take on 200 employees by 2014. This on the back of 200 staff employed since 2010 after a £40m investment in a new wind turbine tower manufacturing facility in South Wales.
Mabey – which operates in 50 countries worldwide – sees international expansion as key, particularly in the US. The firm will open a further six sites in the States over the next year, taking its US network to 20. In 2010 the company had just nine sites.

In addition, Mabey has opened an office in Singapore in an effort to grow its equipment hire business in the lucrative Asian market.

Peter Lloyd, CEO of Mabey, said: “The last 12 months has seen a great performance by Mabey in what has been a very challenging year for the construction and engineering sectors.

“We are now actively seeking export opportunities for all of our UK businesses, having created new teams focused solely on international business. I look forward to a year of continued diversification and expansion.”

He added: “We are extremely excited about the future and are confident that our three-pronged strategy of increasing our presence in Asia, pushing further into the US and actively targeting opportunities in the renewables sector will pay dividends.”

The company is also rebranding its family of companies which specialise in bridging, steel fabrication, plant hire and construction products.