UK market snapshot from Ainscough

2024 has been an interesting start, to say the least, enduring some challenging head winds (if you excuse the pun). Aside from weather conditions playing a big part into a slower start across the sector, the other current challenge has been the well-published ‘minefield’ regarding routing and travelling embargos. Travelling cranes to site have increasingly become more complicated and now require a high level of planning expertise and additional resource to ensure customers receive cranes on time. This has also impacted customers and we have had to reset their expectations around planning lead-times and flexibility.

At Ainscough we look to minimise this impact by engaging early in the planning process with customers to help navigate the different and inconsistent interpretation of legislation across different regions. It is worth noting that we have had positive results from some police forces by proactively engaging directly with key decision makers, and I really pleased that these relationships are now progressing, which is allowing us to find practical solutions and ultimately enable us to get critical equipment to site as efficiently as possible. This coupled with our Earned Recognition standard has been well received by the authorities.

General expectations for the remainder of the year look promising with some key projects (currently running behind or previously delayed) looking to catch up, as well as new projects starting. We see a step up each year as weather improves but expect this year to be more significant compared to previous due to the exceptionally poor winter weather. For us, early planning and engagement is even more important now to balance availability against demand both with equipment and personnel, to make sure we meet our customer’s needs.

We added the LR1700 crawler crane to our fleet at end of last year, and this indicates the sort of lifting operation where we believe we will see growth for the industry – its towards the larger infrastructure projects, the transition from CP6 to CP7, grid renewal / electrification, and general infrastructure projects, to highlight a few areas where we are focused on increasing our capability and support for customers. A related area of growth we see more of is the requirement for larger cranes to support the modular building concept; as the construction industry develops new manufacturing capabilities, loads are typically now larger, so we’re making sure we’re geared up with the right equipment to support our customers.

Our strategy is to be recognised as the national high value lift service supplier of choice across the UK. This means we must provide the highest standards of safety, compliance, and competency with our operators, supported by the best equipment, network, management, and technology to deliver that service. Our number one priority is safety, and we will continue to push for right level of legislation and best practice standards for crane safety. In this space we also see technology and data availability via real-time reporting as a key enabler of improved safety and effectiveness, and as a result this is a focus for our business over the next couple of years.

With more customers are now focusing on the environmental impact of their operations (and legislative requirements coming for Scope3 reporting), we are well positioned with Ainscough demonstrably a leader in this space, becoming the first national crane company in the world to achieve accredited Carbon Neutral status. We have also delivered numerous wider best practice initiatives and innovation, such as monthly best driver recognition, lighter crane tackle and tackle boxes, and introducing the first hybrid mobile crane which entered our fleet this year. Our fleet replacement programme also sees a major investment in the latest tractor units from Scania, and cranes from Liebherr, with have significantly improved duties that not only save customers money but have environmental benefit from the latest technologies.