‘It is a tragedy. They were longstanding, well liked and well regarded employees. Our thoughts are with their families’

Edward Seagar, managing director of Bennett’s commenting on the deaths of three people in a tower crane accident on a UK construction at Durrington High School in Worthing, East Sussex, UK

‘The plan that has been in development for 18 months was to report January ‘05. We have pretty much everybody in agreement, but there are still minor issues to be worked out,’

Howard Lyndon, Terex Cranes’ retired general manager of product services, now employed as a consultant on the plan to share crawler crane statistics

‘If you simply stop and ask yourself where is the biggest single opportunity in the construction business in the Middle East you will most likely say Iraq, where by World Bank estimates some $30bn are required in the next 18 months for the rebuilding effort’

Greg Wong, US Commercial Counsellor at the US embassy in Baghdad

‘This is a key strategic acquisition. The industrial and construction industries in China have experienced an 8% growth over recent years, and the figure is predicted to rise further still. With significant investment from Bridon, the Tianjin plant will be ideally placed to capture a greater percentage of this rapidly expanding market.’

Bridon’s managing director, Steve Rutherford commenting on his company’s success in securing a majority shareholding in Tianjin Golik Ltd, China’s leading producer of elevator ropes based near Beijing

‘2004 was an excellent year for Manitowoc. We posted record revenues, excellent cash generation, and strong profit growth, while improving EVA (economic value added) by $18m over prior-year levels and exceeding our net debt-reduction goals’

Manitowoc chairman and CEO Terry Growcock

‘From the high level of interest shown, we are convinced that the time is right for the acceptance of the self-erecting crane concept in a country [South Africa] where there is a huge potential for building and infrastructure development’

Paul Rogers, Manitowoc Crane Group regional director in Africa

‘Nowadays, because of tough market conditions, there is no relationship between the real cost, and what you can ask of the market. That means we have a difficult business, and the power is with the clients. It is they who determine prices’

Dimitri Rombouts, financial controller of Belgium-based crane rental company Van Der Weghe

‘Business is probably a little bit tougher at the moment, but what we are really finding is that costs are increasing faster than our revenue’

Martin Ainscough, managing director of UK-based Ainscough Crane Hire

‘I think the recovery will take place in the third quarter of this year’

Jimmy Lomma of US crane rental company Lomma

‘I believe [business] is heading back in the direction it was two or three years ago where – at least for the larger cranes – getting the project depends mainly on availability. The market remains competitive, but having the right crane in the right place at the right time will determine who gets the work.’

Doug Williams of Buckner Heavy Lift Cranes in North Carolina, US

‘There has been a period of excess capacity of cranes available, in particular in the power industry. However, we are seeing more power work, and a strengthening of the economy, and more construction projects are now using cranes’

Ron Schad, president and ceo of Essex Crane rental

‘Most of the companies that have been holding off on spending money on maintenance and upgrades over the last couple of years have enough confidence to go ahead with projects that have been on the table for a while’

Jeff Latture, senior vice president sales and marketing at Barnhart in Memphis, Tennessee

‘Business has probably grown 9% by value in the last year,’

US-based Bragg’s John Anderson