Samuel Walker Senior founded the company in 1964 before handing the company, which expanded to premises in Manchester, England, to his two sons – Alan and Samuel.

For some 30 years Samuel Walker and Sons had worked with Grove, providing back up for Grove users. It had the sole approved product support team for Grove spare parts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Channel Islands.

MCG, which owns Grove and tower crane manufacturer Potain, has reacted quickly to the news in a bid to ensure its customers experience no disruption in service, following what it called “trading difficulties” announced by its UK representative.

Manitowoc said the new arrangement applies only to the UK service of the Grove product line, as previously handled by Samuel Walker. Potain and Manitowoc products will continue to receive support directly from Manitowoc Crane CARE’s UK facilities.

Steve Barnett, managing director of sales and operations for MCG in the UK, said taking care of customers was the number one priority.

“We have a duty of care to our customers, and I expect us to fulfil that duty,” he said. “We,” he continued, “have an excellent reputation for taking care of our customers, so we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that continues.”

Thibaut Le Besnerais, vice president of Manitowoc Crane CARE for the Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) region added: “We remain fully committed to providing the best possible after-market care to our customers.”

He said that MCG has reacted swiftly to the situation and was completely confident its customers will notice no difference in the supply of parts and service for its Grove cranes.

He added: “We have resources and systems in place to ensure our high level of customer service continues on an on-going basis.”

As an initial response, Crane CARE has acquired additional operational resources for both Grove spare parts and service divisions, which will be coordinated from the MCG facility in Sunderland.

These provisional arrangements form part of a larger action plan, details of which the company will communicate to customers over the coming weeks.