Stronger together in UK

15 May 2019

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Hiab, the on-road load handling equipment specialist, has begun importing and servicing Effer cranes in the UK, following the acquisition of the Italian crane manufacturer last year.

Effer, headquartered in Minerbio, Italy, and with approximately 400 employees, is a renowned premium knuckle-boom crane manufacturer, distributed globally to around 60 countries through a network of 100 dealers. In the UK, distribution and servicing of Effer cranes has been handled by commercial vehicle bodybuilder Martin Williams of Hull.

Commenting on the integration of Effer into the UK, Ian Mitchell, Hiab managing director UK & Ireland, said: “The acquisition of Effer gives Hiab a great opportunity to expand and strengthen our offering in the UK, particularly in high-end cranes.”

The integration also gives Effer customers access to a widened service network in the UK.

“Martin Williams in Hull will still be a key service and installation provider for Effer products, but there are now nine Hiab locations where Effer cranes can be serviced from as well,” Mitchell explained. “Training of service engineers at these nine locations is underway and will boost the service coverage and capacity we can offer current and potential Effer users across the UK.”

Effer's product range that Hiab will incorporate includes truck loader cranes and special application truck cranes, with particular recognition for heavy cranes over 100tm capacity.

Alastair Evans, Hiab sales product manager, UK & Ireland, added: “Hiab has never had cranes over 100tm before, so the addition of Effer opens up our offering to customers that require an above 100tm crane: plant operators, construction applications, heavy lifting specialist firms, and cabin applications, for example.

“It also means that customers who’d like to buy a bigger crane can choose Effer with the knowledge that there is the Hiab backup and service to support them,” Evas said.

Hiab has identified a number of Effer cranes that it will offer in the UK market.

“We are offering Effer cranes that have the latest advanced safety stability system, called Progress 2.0, in the UK. We are also focusing on models that complement and offer additional advantages to our current product range, for example Hiab doesn’t offer continuous slewing until 35tm cranes, whereas Effer offers greater reach and continuous slewing with its smaller 20tm cranes,” said Evans.

Nick Williams, director at Martin Williams, added: “We are proud of the market share we have built up over the last three years and with Hiab’s extensive service network, Effer will now be an even more attractive proposition for UK customers. We are looking forward to working with Hiab on the specialist installation and maintenance of the Effer product.”