In the pipeline

The fastest emergency hose replacement service there is

Quarter 4 2010

Follow the leader

Embracing the New

Cont

ents

Published by Pirtek (UK) Limited35 Acton Park Estate, The Vale, Acton, London W3 7QETel 020 8749 8444 Fax 020 8749 8333 E-mail info@pirtek.co.uk

There was a time, in the not too distant past, when a break in a business meetingsignalled a dash for the door and a cigarette break. Today, however, those breaks arenormally greeted with the bleeps and glowing screens of iPhones and Blackberriesbeing fired up and emails read.Such has been the penetration of these new smart phones that in many sectors theynow outsell more traditional mobile handsets, and what was until recently perceived asa luxury item is now viewed as an everyday business tool by company directors anddigger drivers alike.Here at Pirtek, we have a reputation for embracing and utilising new technology. Ournetwork of 90+ UK Centres have been interlinked by a computer system since a timewhen many business owners were still using telex; our emergency callout requests aretransmitted wirelessly to our Mobile Sales and Service Technicians (MSST) using astate-of-the-art computer and PDA system; and our MSSTs find even our most remotecustomers using in-cab GPS and satellite navigation techniques that wouldn’t be out ofplace on an aircraft.And now we are embracing the era of the smart phone with a new iPhone and iPad app(see opposite) that will allow our customers to interact with our local Centres like neverbefore, and which will allow us to respond even more quickly to their emergency calls.The development of this app, like the other technological advances mentioned above,represents a significant investment for Pirtek. But as a company whose success hingesupon its ability to match and exceed its customers’ demands, it’s an investment we’redelighted to make. And you can be sure that if someone finally invents a Star Trek-styletransporter room that will allow us to “beam down” replacement hoses, Pirtek will be atthe front of the queue.

Best regards

Kelvin RobertsChairman, Pirtek Europe

App Happy 3Force to be reckoned with 4A Dog’s Life 5Powering Ahead 6Making the Grade 7Pirtek to the Rescue 8Towering above the Rest 9

Track Star 10Pirtek Charity 11BTCC 12

In the pipeline 3

Quarter 4 2010

Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions, one ofthe UK's leading utility solutionsproviders, is the latest company to turnto Pirtek to help protect its equipmentfleet from theft. An approvedtechnician from Pirtek Derby fitted theCESAR system to a fleet of 30 JohnDeere tractors at Balfour Beatty’sRaynesway plant facility. The newly-protected machines will work onelectricity distribution projects inremote locations.

Available through Pirtek’s nationalnetwork of dedicated Hose Centres,CESAR is the only official security andregistration scheme for constructionand agricultural equipment. It has wideindustry support from official bodiesincluding the Home Office theConstruction Equipment Associationthe Agricultural Engineers Associationand the police, leading equipmentmanufacturers, the insurance andfinance industries, utilities and localauthorities.

Balfour Beatty Gets ProtectiveCESAR registered machines are fittedwith a sophisticated and multi-layeredsecurity system that gives eachmachine its own unique ‘fingerprint’,that is impossible for thieves to remove.CESAR is made up of 4 elements.Firstly, the machine is fitted with 4tamper proof triangular registrationplates, which are securely fitted to themachine; with the machines own uniqueidentification number. Secondly, anumber of RFID transponders, each thesize of a grain of rice, are hidden in themachinery each with its own uniqueprogrammed code. Thirdly, the machinehas patches of forensic liquid DNApainted on to it in a number of locations.The liquid DNA has microscopicDatatdots suspended in it which areinvisible to the eye. Fourthly, lifetimemachine registration on Datatag’ssecure database gives the police andother official agencies 24/7 access tothe registration information, animportant aid in identification andrecovery.

Official statistics issued by the Plantand Agricultural National IntelligenceUnit, based within Scotland Yard, showthat a machine without CESAR is 4times more likely to be stolen than aCESAR registered machine. Plus therecovery rate for unregistered plant isas low as five percent but the recoveryrate for stolen CESAR registeredmachines has increased to nearly 30percent in 2009.

Pirtek is coming to the iPhone and iPadApp Store. The company, which alreadyhas a reputation for embracing newtechnology, has developed a new freeApp that will allow iPhone users tointeract with their nearest dedicatedHose Centre faster and moreefficiently than ever before.“The new App, which is currently goingthrough the Apple approval process, willutilise the Apple iPhone’s GPScapabilities to identify exactly where acustomer is and then recommend whichof our 90+ Hose Centres across the UKand Ireland is closest,” explains businessdevelopment director and iPhoneadvocate Alistair Wiggins. “Thecustomer can then choose to call oremail that Centre to book a call-out.”But there’s more to the system than acollection of Centre addresses andcontact details. “If the customer uses

App Happythe phone’s email system to book anemergency call-out, the App willautomatically forward their preciseGPS location to the Centre and to theMSST, allowing them to respond morequickly and efficiently,” Wigginscontinues. In addition to this capability,the free App will allow users to view andcall Pirtek Centres and to order thecompany’s free catalogue that containsmore than 18,000 individual line items.“As a company, we have always tried toremain at the very forefront oftechnology,” Wiggins concludes.“Internally, we utilise advanced wirelesscommunications linked to MSSTs’ PDAsto communicate more effectively. Nowwe’re able to offer a similar level ofinteractivity to our customers, we haveseized the opportunity.”A Blackberry and Android version of thenew App is currently under discussion.

Travel north along the A1 in Cambridge and Lincolnshire, and you cannot avoidseeing a plethora of RAF airbases. But just south of Grantham at Colsterworth isan equally impressive display of Army hardware at the appropriately namedWitham Specialist Vehicles Ltd depot. The title gives the visitor no idea of thetreasure trove of military hardware hidden away down Honeypot Lane, for thedepot is the sole dispersal point for ex-Army vehicles.The depot is home to row upon row of Land Rover 90s, 4x4 DAF and Bedfordtrucks for sale, together with tanks, Saxon armoured personnel carriers, brandnew Land Rovers, Scammell bowsers, Jones cranes, Dennis coaches, MasseyFerguson tractors and Fox CVRW vehicles along with a huge array of surplusmilitaria. The vehicles arrive at Colsterworth at a rate of around 1,000 units peryear and in every conceivable condition, and it falls to workshop manager SteveDeans to 're-life', dismantle or recycle every one of them. Each vehicle isevaluated, and has faults, problems and repairs noted. “There is a big market formilitary vehicles, they are tough, simple to maintain and built to last. Forinstance the 4x4 trucks all end up in Africa where they will almost certainly lastfor another 30 years. The plant, ends up in Eastern Europe, the Romanians can'tget enough cranes for some reason, while the armoured personnel carriersalready have a buyer ,” Deans says. “However, they all have to be in good workingorder, and trying to find components for a vehicle that is 30 years old can besomewhat challenging." And this is where Pirtek Peteborough comes in. "Many ofthe vehicles for repair have oddball fittings, goodness knows what we will find onsome of the more specialised vehicles. But it's got to the point where I phonePirtek and say 'I want one of these, can you source it' and they do. They have notlet us down yet. They have found unique parts for 70s Land Rovers, made ramsfor Moffat forklifts, they have sourced parts for Royal Navy milk floats, found allsorts of parts for the Leyland DAF trucks, supplied power steering hoses forAveling Barford graders, hydraulics for JCB wheel loaders, to name but a few oftheir successes. Their knowledge of the hydraulic market is superb and theirability to source parts is nothing short of miraculous.”

Pirtek Belfast recently attended theLimavady Agricultural Show to helppromote the Construction EquipmentSecurity and Registration scheme’s(CESAR) arrival in Northern Ireland.Sharing a stand with the Police Serviceof Northern Ireland and local NFUMutual offices, Licensee David Adamsspent the day demonstrating how theCESAR scheme is of benefit to localfarmers and agricultural suppliers.Available through all of Pirtek’s networkof 90+ dedicated Hose Centres in theUK, the CESAR scheme is anidentification product proven to reducetheft of plant and agriculturalequipment. It also makes recovery andreturn to original owner more likely for

equipment that is stolen.Pirtek Belfast is Northern Ireland’s onlyauthorised company for retrofitting theCESAR scheme and is well placed toprovide this service as they alreadyhave mobile technicians spreadthroughout the province for theirhydraulic hose repair/replacementservice. "The CESAR system is vital inthe detection, investigation andprosecution of an offender involved inplant machinery theft,” says crimeprevention officer Colin Elliott. “Thesystem has proven to deter, yet whenequipment is left unattended,immobilise it or use additional securitydevices to limit the potential forunauthorised use.”

DavidAdams andConst. John

Wilson

Above MSST CraigThompson (left)

and Steve Deans,in front of a FV 432

Armouredpersonnel carrier

Yes, they really dohave deactivatedmissile launchers

for sale

Witham SpecialistVehicle’s workshop

manager SteveDeans, with a few of

the 4x4 trucks Pirtekhave helped refurbish

Pirtek Belfast’s David Adams is equallyenthusiastic. "We are delighted to bechosen as Northern Ireland's distributorof CESAR for plant and agriculturalequipment,” he concludes. “The PoliceService of Northern Ireland has fullyendorsed this initiative and we aregrateful for their support and guidance."

CESAR Conquers Belfast

Force to bereckoned with

www.pirtek-europe.com

5In the pipeline

Mobile elevating work platforms(MEWP), or cherry-pickers asthey’re often known, are regularusers of Pirtek’s on-site hosereplacement service. So whenPirtek Ipswich received anemergency call from MEWP hirespecialist Nationwide recently, itseemed like nothing out of theordinary.However, the MEWP in questionwas a 43 tonne, 35 metre reachbehemoth – one of only four of itskind in the UK – and it required twoPFM35-06 hoses, each of 55metres in one unbroken length.Despite the unusual nature of therequest,Pirtek Ipswich swung into action,

dispatching a two-man team to

Going toExtraordinaryLengths

spend a day and a half on themachine which was playing apivotal role in Willmott Dixon’sconstruction of the studentaccommodation block for IpswichCollege. Pirtek Ipswich MSSTKevin Andrews, who readily admitsthat he is not a great lover ofheights, is understandably proudof the fast turnaround of amachine that Nationwide describesas “a bloody great big monster”.“The re-hosing of this machineproves the importance of keepingsufficent stock as it allows us torespond quickly to even the mostunusual customer calls,” heconcludes. “That was one hell of ajob. But I’m not sure I'd want totackle one of those every day.”

Even in its contracted format, the Nationwide MEWP dwarfs the Pirtekservice van

For someone whodoesn’t like

heights, MSSTKevin Andrews did

a stunning job onthe giant MEWP

A Dog's Life

Everyone has heard of Battersea Dogs and CatsHome, especially as they are promoting the newstate of the art cattery as part of their 150thbirthday celebrations in 2010. However, fewpeople realise the enormous amount of work thatgoes on behind the scenes to keep the homerunning.One such person is vehicle maintenance engineerBud Abbott, who recently ran into a problem witha mobile water pump that facilitates the powerwasher used to clean the kennels and runs neededto cater for the 10,600 animals brought in to thehome every year. Half way through a cleaningprogramme, the high pressure jetting hose to thegun failed and a call was immediately made toPirtek Greenwich for assistance. Abbott knewthey would respond quickly as they had done so inthe past. But even he was impressed with theirlatest rescue. " The pump also doubles up as ourdrain jetting machine, so it was vital to get it backinto service as quickly as possible,” Abbottconcludes. “Our regular MSST, Darren Bennettwas on site immediately and had replaced the 3/8,350 bar hose 10 minutes later. That's what I callservice!”Anyone wishing to get involved with the home or make a donation can find details atwww.battersea.org.uk.

Bud Abbott withthe vital waterjetting pump

Holly Liebersonwith 1 year oldStaffie Coco

Chris Barnard,using the waterjet to ensure theruns are cleanand virus free

Quarter 4 2010

www.pirtek-europe.com

Operating in a crowded and highly competitivemarketplace, United Fork Trucks has not onlysurvived but greatly expanded its operations sincethe company’s inception in 1992. This has beenachieved by adopting a policy of offering a nationalservice, but on a local basis through a network ofnine national depots."It's no good offering customers a service if youcan't respond to urgent requests for machines, or cope with on-sitemaintenance quickly,” explains managing director Paul Nichol. “We earnedour reputation by supplying the right machine at the right price, and beingflexible with our customers. We even keep a stock of machines especially forurgent short-term needs, as well as negotiating long term contracts. Butwhere we come up trumps is on service." Nichol says that even thecomposition of the company’s equipment fleet is driven by the specificneeds of its customers. "We have a lot of small 2 tonne trucks because thereis a big market for them. In fact, about a third of our business is done in thissector. But we also specialise in the larger machines, and we can currentlyoffer a 42 tonner,” he says. “We are not brand loyal. We prefer to purchasethe best from each manufacturer, plus what is requested by our clients. Weoperate on being the solution to their problems. It's what makes usdifferent." Financial Director, Chris Compson echoes those sentiments. "Wehave to be flexible and often transfer machines from one depot to anotherto cope with customer or seasonal demands. The Thetford depot oftenneeds specialist machines to cope with fruit and vegetable pallet stacking;other depots have need of warehouse stackers pre-Christmas. Thisobviously puts extra demands on our maintenance department as they haveto cope with a large, diverse fleet that is constantly changing,” Chris adds.“However, we pride ourselves on having an excellent fleet ready to go at amoment's notice. To ensure this, we have to have top class suppliers such asPirtek. They give us good service and support throughout the country. Butbeing responsible for the financial wellbeing of the company, I have to keepan eye on the costs as well. The fact that we retain Pirtek as a nationalsupplier speaks for itself.""With 90 Pirtek Centres to choose between for service, I know our depotscan always get a great response time, regardless of where our machines areworking,” concludes Brian Best, service manager at UFT Sittingbourne.“Never have we presented Pirtek with a problem they couldn’t handle. Wehave always had an excellent working relationship with Pirtek Medway andhave really benefited from the opening of their new Centre at Sittingbourne."

Powering Ahead

Established in 1984, Powerplant (Stamford) Limitedprovides a variety of temporary electrical power solutionsacross a variety of diverse industry sectors. As the company expanded itmoved from its original home at Oakham, to Peterborough beforeconsolidating the company in its present form at Stamford in 1998. Thecompany was sold to the Turner Group by co-founder and managingdirector Tim Joyce when he retired in 2008, but his son Mark remains asthe operations manager.Today, Powerplant designs, manufactures and reconditions bespokegenerators for a huge variety of customers, and operates a large generatorfleet that is available on a sale or rental basis. The gen sets are fullymaintained from the company’s in-house workshop facility, with ex-rentaland refurbished generators resold to the general public.Each of the company’s gen sets is custom made, and range in size from asingle cylinder petrol 3.0 KvA set to a 2,000 KvA V16 set that was recentlyexported to China. The sets find their way across the globe, with threerecently sent to Tanzania, and a further three destined for the Falklandswhere they will provide the power for the company resurfacing Stanleyairport. Customers include Lloyds TSB, Luton Airport, numerous NHShospitals and the Royal Mail (through a third party.) "Many of the sets arenow being installed as a prime power system, instead of being used as thetraditional back up,” Mark Joyce explains. “Customers are finding that it isworth running these sets in high tariff times and then selling the excessback to the national grid.”Mark reports that the events market is still one of the main areas for theirhire fleet with construction close behind, although the company hasrecently diversified into the poultry business with the gen sets being usedas back up power for farms. Despite operating its own impressiveworkshop facility, Powerplant regularly calls upon assistance from PirtekPeterborough although, unusually, not for emergency on-site hosereplacements. “It's not often we need to call Pirtek for field repairs to thegen sets although they obviously provide all of that side of themaintenance service. Where they come into their own is where equipmenthas to be moved after installation, and of course none of the fuel lines thenfit," Mark Joyce concludes. "We've used other companies in the past but wealways seem to encounter problems, either they can't respond or they turnup on site without the parts and tools. MSST Craig Thompson alwayscomes up with a solution and finds the right fittings. We run our companyon a 'lean and mean' basis and, thanks to Pirtek, we don’t need our ownhydraulics expert because we have one right on our doorstep.”

United We Stand

Brian Best

Chris Compson and Paul NicholMark Joyce and MSST Craig Thompson

In the pipeline 7

Quarter 4 2010

AGD Cranes is the UK's premier name in crawler cranes, their huge orange-liveriedmachines a familiar sight on motorway works and construction sites up and downthe country. But there is far more to the company than mere crawler cranes. Thecompany is the UK and Ireland distributors for IHI hydraulic crawler cranes, RTGleader rigs, Giken silent pilers, Mait foundation equipment, piling equipment fromCZM, Fambo and THW and mini pilingequipment from Vermeer.AGD is a third generation, family run salesand rental company that operates from asprawling 1.6 hectare site in Stratford-upon-Avon. This impressive facilityincludes a modern, fully-equippedworkshop with a 25 tonne capacityoverhead crane, fabrication shop, wash-baywith water recycling system plus a state-of-the-art paint-shop.The company’s own workshops aresupported by nearby Pirtek Redditch withwhich AGD has enjoyed a 13-year relationship. “We trust Pirtek Redditch andtheir ability to arrive on site with the right parts and manufacture what we need,there and then,” says AGD’s service manager Neil Ashton. “In this economicclimate it is always possible to buy cheaper. But we can’t buy better.”Ashton cites one recent example in which Pirtek Redditch’s responsivenesshelped AGD secure an important crane sale. “We had a number of VIP visitorsscheduled to arrive at 9.00 am to look at purchasing a crawler crane. We had run afull operating check before they arrived but when we started to put the machinethrough its paces, a hose failed,” Ashton recalls. “We called Pirtek and, althoughthe MSST was only minutes away from another call, they diverted him onto ourjob because the visitors were due to fly out at 3.00 pm. The hose was replaced, themachine demonstrated and the sale was made.”

So did Neil Ashton feel guilty about divertinga Pirtek Redditch MSST away from someoneelse’s emergency call? “Not really,” heconcludes. “I did ask how he managed to gethere so quickly and he said he’d been called offanother job at the last minute. But he alsoassured me that the customer was still dealtwith in under an hour.”

AGD CranesRaise the Bar

Makingthe GradeHaving sponsored the Sheffield Tigers team for a numberof years, Pirtek has a long association with the famousspeedway team. And that association was renewedrecently when Pirtek Sheffield was called out to rescue anational race meeting.The Tigers’ home venue at OwlertonStadium uses an ancient road graderto skim the track when it getswaterlogged after heavy rain, an alltoo frequent occurrence in Sheffield.Unfortunately, just hours before theBritish Sidecar Championship wasabout to take place, the gradershowed it's age and blew the hydraulichose used to lower the grading blade.Sheffield MSST William Birtles wasurgently summoned to the track tosort the 'old lady' out again. As usual,Birtle had the grader repaired and back in use so the quarter mile shale track could be skimmed and the meeting saved. Speedway promoter and Tigers owner Neil Machin hasnothing but praise for Pirtek who had come to the rescueonce again. "The grader dates back to 1968 and wasrescued from Skegness where it was used to grade thenational stock car track up until 1988. The grader wasmoved to Sheffield and has earned its keep here ever since,"Machin says. "To say the hydraulics were a bit lived in issomething of an understatement. This machine has becomea labour of love for Pirtek Sheffield who have replaced justabout every hose on it now.”This is a view shared by MSST William Birtles. "It's not apretty machine, but it starts first time, every time,” heconcludes. “Graders are something of a rarity now, so to beable to keep a machine of this age in working order hasbecome a pet project for the Centre."

Sheffield MSST WilliamBirtles (l) and Neil Machin

t

(l-r) Pirtek Redditch sales managerMorton Connell, MSST Mark Sayersand AGD’s Neil Aston

Pirtek to the RescueThe Royal National LifeboatInstitution (RNLI) is used toresponding quickly to anemergency call, so when they hadan emergency of their own, it wasnot unreasonable to expect thesame sort of service from theirsuppliers.Such was the case when the launchtractor for the Mablethorpelifeboat station was recentlyrendered inoperative by a damagedhydraulic steering hose. PirtekLincoln was immediately called outto rectify the problem.General manager Pete Sibbons tookthe call out of hours on a Sunday,and knew he had to react quickly.The station's articulated launchtractor, a Biglands Talus MB-4Hbuilt by Clayton Engineering, is usedto push the Atlantic 75 RIB ( RigidInflatable Boat) lifeboat and itscrew of three, into the sea on aDODO (drive off, drive on) trailer.This highly specialised 9.4 tonnevehicle was designed in conjunctionwith the RNLI, to wade 1.6 metresin rough seas when launching thelifeboat. The Talus is so specialisedand so totally waterproofed, that inan emergency, it can survive beingtotally submerged and left on the

Top, A splendid sight, all the Lincolnshire RNLI boats inoperation - the Mablethorpe RIB is in the centreAbove , the Talus in operation with a DODO launchtrailerLeft The Talus in deep water after a launch

seabed between tides. It wasobviously a vital piece of life-savingequipment, and had been used in50+ rescues the previousyear.Taking details of the hose andensuring he had the correctequipment and parts on board,Sibbons was on site within 50minutes of the initial call and had the tractor back in action within 15minutes of arrival.Mablethorpe's RNLI OperationsManager, Dave Chapman said theywere delighted with the response.

The RNLI is an independentcharity and depends entirely onpublic support.If you would like to know more,please visitwww.rnli.org.uk/how_to_support_us

Right on CueIn the Pipeline was visitingconstruction and utility solutionsprovider Clancy Docwra to discussthe role Pirtek Watford plays in itsbusiness. And we didn’t have towait long before we could witnessthe relationship first-hand.Clancy Docwra is a name thatcomes instantly to mind whenconstruction, and in particular, theutility sector are mentioned.Michael Clancy founded the ClancyGroup in 1958, diversifying intohouse building in 1962 and planthire in 1968. In 1974 theyacquired RE Docwra and renamed

the company. Since then thecompany has enjoyed furtherexpansions and diversificationsinto rail, drilling, pipelines, and theutilities sector.“Our Harefield headquarters isserviced by Pirtek Watford Centre,although as a national account, thetwo companies have enjoyed a longand productive relationship,”explained Clancy Docwra's PlantWorkshop Manager Robin Smith.“As we have depots throughout theUK, from Scotland to Kent, we knowthat we can guarantee the samequick response from any of the

www.pirtek-europe.com

Clancy Docwra’s Plant Workshop Manager Robin Smithwith Watford MSST James Dove

9In the pipeline

Based at Beckton in East London,London Tower Service (LTS) is theaccess equipment specialist that otherplatform companies turn to in the hourof need. So it's satisfying to learn thatLTS turns to Pirtek to keep their fleetoperational.“Over 70 percent of our business is withother access equipment companies.They come to us for a variety of reasons.It could be that they just need an extra'run of the mill' machine at short noticeand we are ideally suited to get aplatform into the City within 15

Towering Above the Rest

minutes. Or they could have a morespecialised request such as our narrowaccess platforms. Either way we willhave the platform ready to go, a factthat has not gone unnoticed by ourcustomers,” explains director PaulFairhall. "We have over 300 machines inour fleet, many of them unique or highlyspecialised, and all of them under threeyears old. We have a big fleet of Niftyliftplatforms from the HR12 right throughto the 21 metre reach HR21 and 4x4rough terrain machines. Some of themore unusual machines include the new

super compact Bravi Leonardo (whichcan fit in the back of a van) and theYoungman Boss range. We also run ahuge range of JLG and Genie machinesincluding a 32’ (9.8) metre reach Genie3232, the only one of its kind inSouthern England." But there is more toLTS than mere volume of equipment."We have a well earned reputation forhaving the right equipment and forresponding quickly. Service is ourunique selling point. We provide abreakdown service, with our own CAPticketed engineers, for other platformcompanies, plus we are the Niftyliftservice centre for the South East. Toprovide that sort of service we need tobe efficient and respond promptly toany problem or request,” Fairhallcontinues. “Obviously the platforms geta lot of wear and the hoses often getdamaged whilst on hire. This is wherePirtek fits into our service programme.We have found it is more cost effectiveand quicker to leave all the hydraulicrepairs to Pirtek Docklands. It saves onoverheads as we don't have to carryhuge amounts of stock and they canalways be relied on to get to the sitevery quickly. What we really like is theservice. The MSST often just calls in tocheck on the service situation and wecan use the Centre as a trade counter ifour engineers just need the odd part."

Far left, all ofLTS’splatforms arekept undercover, andready to go Above, LTSDirectorPaul Fairhallin typicalhands on modewith a NiftyLiftHeightriderHR17 Left loading aJLG 1930ESon the LTSModec Electrictruck

Pirtek Centres, no matter where inthe country a service issue arises.All our operators are supplied withthe national helpline number and alist of the local centres. In fact, aswe speak, our regular MSST JamesDove is in the service bay sortingout a JCB 8060 mini excavator thathas a defective boom ram hose.This is a particularly awkward job asthe hose not only goes from oneend of the machine to the other, butthrough the body of the machine.”Robin went on to explain thatPirtek plays in protecting ClancyDocwra’s equipment from theft.“We pride ourselves on having amodern, young equipment fleet butthat brings with it the problem oftargeted theft,” he said. “But

Pirtek Watford has supplied andinstalled the CESAR securitysystem to all our machines over thepast four years. The installationsmust have run into the hundreds bynow, and as a consequence of thesecurity measures we take, we haveonly had four machines stolen inthat time, all of which have beenrecovered. I really cannot fault thePirtek service."Just as he said that, PirtekWatford’s MSST James Dove pokedhis head around the door to say thatthe “awkward job” on the JCB miniexcavator had been completed andthe machine was back at work inunder half an hour. "See what Imean," Robin Smith concluded witha satisfied smile.

Quarter 4 2010

Above, JamesDovedemonstratingthe easy way toget an hydraulichose through aJCB Right, RobinSmith with aCESARprotectedexcavator

www.pirtek-europe.com

TrackStarWhat a difference a few weeks canmake. In the midst of the snowstorms at the French end of theChannel tunnel at the beginning ofthe year, the resulting butunexpected breakdown of trainsmade Eurostar something of anational pariah. And then, when thecompany brilliantly responded tothe Icelandic volcano ash cloud byrunning additional trains to bringhome Britons stranded on thecontinent, the company quickly wentfrom ‘zero back to hero’.Whatever the perceptions about thecompany, the Temple MillsEngineering Centre at Leyton in EastLondon that were behind the ashcloud rescue effort are impressive.Here the longest passenger trains inthe world (a quarter of a mile long)are serviced in the longest building inthe world. Up to 8 of the operatingfleet of 27, capable of carrying 750passengers, can be serviced at anyone time. This could be an overnightcheck and clean, to a three-dayservice, through to a major overhaulover a period of three weeks. Themaintenance crews work 24/7, 365days a year and every employeeactually takes a role in runningEurostar Temple Mills, where Kaizenmethods (Japanese for "ContinuousImprovement" or "Change for theBetter") are employed. Simply bythinking harder about the processesbeing used, they find they areworking much more efficiently.Employees get together as a team atKaizen events and study a particularprocess and between them effect a

Eurostar’sTrevorCunningham

PirtekLeyton’sMSSTDanielGermshuys(minusarmour)

the Park Royal franchise. FranchiseeAndy Williams visited Eurostar toexplain there had been a change ofManagement and was immediatelygiven the brake hose as an inauguralchallenge. Within the week, PirtekLeyton returned to say they couldmanufacture the hose. "At first Isimply couldn't believe that theycould make a replacement hose, justlike that. These are huge, fire-retardant hoses, with specialisedsilicon linings, and weird stainlesssteel connectors, and Pirtek said theycould actually manufacture one.From that moment on, they becameour knights in shining armour. Weare now genuinely in the privilegedposition of being able to approachPirtek with the details of a part andjust say ‘We need one of these…’ andthey get it manufactured,” Trevorexplains. “They even purchased apipe-bending machine and brought itto the workshops to exactly match apart we couldn't source. I can trulysay I've never encountered such apro-active group of engineers. I can'tsing their praises highly enough."This is a view echoed by DarrenSanderson, Eurostar’s TechnicalEngineer (Components). "We havephoned Pirtek Leyton for somestainless steel part, not in theircatalogue, and they are back within10 minutes with a solution,”Sanderson concludes. “They aretruly a portrait of customer service. "

To celebrate the impending launch of its newiPhone/iPad app, Pirtek is offering one lucky Inthe Pipeline reader the chance to win a new

iPhone 4.0 by answering one simple question: As Pirtek website users will be aware, thecompany recently made its debut at the renowned Southampton Boat Show. But on what stand number did the company exhibit? Please email your answer toinfo@pirtek.co.uk. The winner will be drawn from the correct entries on 15.12.10. For further information, go to www.pirtek.co.uk.The winner of the last competion was Roger Morris of Conveyor-Units in Stourbridge.Roger wins two tickets to the last BTCC race of the season at Brands Hatch.

Competition

method of improvement that they allagree on."The Eurostar trains were builtbetween 17 to 18 years ago. Thecontract was effectively split betweenthree different countries, but it wouldseem that no one troubled to keep amaster manifest of all the parts used inthe initial manufacture,” says TrevorCunningham, who for five years,worked as Senior Logistics Engineer.One of his tasks in that role was theretro cataloguing of every part on theEurostar train. “Unfortunately many ofthe parts are effectively obsolete and agood few of the original OEMs are nolonger in existence. Obviously many ofthe parts are standard components,which are generally available and canbe sourced from suppliers in the UK,but some were custom made and onlyexist as drawings, sometimes not eventhat. There are components such asthe Scharfenberg brake hose that areso specialised, that we searchedunsuccessfully for three years,enquiring at hose companies across theworld to try and replace them." At around the time that Trevor wasstruggling with the Scharfenberg hoseproblem, Pirtek Leyton became part of

A New Canary

Scottish Expansion11In the pipeline

Quarter 4 2010

Solid as a rockPirtek Ladiesin Race for Life

A team of four ladies from Pirtek’sUK headquarters in London wereamong 17,000 who took part in theRace for Life charity event at HydePark recently.Race for Life is the UK’s largestwomen-only fund-raising event.The event involves women running,jogging or walking five kilometresto raise money for cancer charities.The event has a very relaxed, funatmosphere; women take part inRace for Life for many reasons,some have survived cancerthemselves, others take part in

order help remember someonethey have lost to cancer andothers just do it to have fun whilstraising money for a good cause. Todate, over four million women haveraised over £327 million forCancer Research UK’s life-savingwork.The Pirtek team of Fatima Pochop,Tammie Argent, Gaynor Edwardsand Helen Simpson, together withtheir friend Beverly Joseph, raised£1,146 for the Race for Lifecharity fund. Well done ladies.

A team from Pirtek UK in Actontook part in the London roundof The Prostate Cancer CharityTour of Britain on Saturday18th September. Pictured aftercompleting the ride and gettingtheir medals are, left to right:-Keith Hardy, Rob Richards,Kelvin Roberts, Dave Williams,Amedeo Pollicardo and in frontErwin Rivera

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The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride 2010

South West 5th September London 18th September Stoke-on-Trent 26th September

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To sign up contact:andy.rogers@pirtek.co.uk07769 645 469jenny.bull@prostrate-cancer.org.uk

020 8222 7622

Pirtek Norwich generalmanager Jason North has takenover the franchise from longtime owner Ashley Geddes.Jason who has just experiencedhis first month of ownershipsaid he couldn't have done itwithout the excellent staff atNorwich. "They are a greatteam and have made the Centrea huge success in the five yearshe has been working there."

After 15 years, BasildonCentre Manager ColinMay has finally achievedhis wish, becoming theCentre Licensee.When former owners TonyHunt and Vic Lane retiredin June, May was theirnumber one choice totake over the Centre.Having spent two yearsworking in the workshop,three on the road as anMSST and the last 10 asCentre manager, Colin May admits he is very much aPirtek man, a comment that is echoed by hisworkforce. “If he was a stick of rock, he'd havePirtek running all the way through," said one.

Pirtek hasannouncedthe openingof anotherdedicatedHoseCentreNorth of the border, this time inDumfries. The new Centre will berun by Martin and Lynn Lindsay, anexperienced duo that also run thePirtek Centres at Paisley andKilmarnock.The new Dumfries Centre is located at: Unit 2, Block 4, Maxwelltown Industrial Estate,Glasgow Road, Dumfries, DG2 0NW. Tel: 01387 261318 Fax: 01387 279432 E-mail: info@pirtekdumfries.co.uk

The Pirtek ladies from left to right: Fatima, Tammie, Gaynor, Helen andBeverly

On yourbike!

In the pipeline

UK 0800 38 24 38 ROI 1800 74 78 35 www.pirtek-europe.com

With only one round left of the 2010 Dunlop MSA BritishTouring Championship (as we went to press) the PirtekRacing team had already seen plenty of memorablemoments from their maiden season of Touring Car racing.Without doubt the most memorable moment for the new team came at the Croftcircuit in North Yorkshire where they achieved a dominant lights-to-flag victory.

Pirtek-backed driver AndrewJordan started the final of threeraces at Croft from poleposition, maintaining his leadthroughout the race andremaining unchallenged until thechequered flag. The red, blueand yellow colours of the Pirtekcar headed the field home by amargin of over eight seconds – alifetime in circuit racing.

After the euphoria of Croft, the team was able to enjoy the winning feeling during thesix week summer break before they returned to racing at the Snetterton Circuit inNorfolk. The team went on to score valuable championship points in two out of threeraces at the East Anglian circuit with a ninth place finish and a well deservedsixth place.The Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit greeted the BTCC field only two weeks laterand with over 150 Pirtek guests in attendance the team received more supportat the circuit than ever before. Jordan stormed to a points finish in the first raceof the day, followed by a promising podium run in race two prematurely endedby a puncture, before once again running in the points during the final race ofthe day.The furthest race of the season sees the series travel up to Scotland to theKnockhill circuit in Fife. A stomach virus for Jordan and an overheating engineput the team on the back foot for qualifying, but they successfully took hometop ten finishes and points from all three races of the day.The penultimate round of the series took place at Jordan’s home circuit, theDonington track in Derbyshire. Hoping to maximize the potential ‘homeadvantage’ the Staffordshire ace qualified in the top six and proceeded tomove up to fourth before an incident involving the top seven cars endedJordan’s race. Jordan finished in the top ten in the final two races, afterrunning in the top three during the last race and starting from pole position.With only one round left on the 2010 BTCC calendar, the Pirtek Racingteam will be aiming to repeat their season’s successes at the Brands HatchCircuit in Kent.

Racing to Successin the BTCC