England-based Bevan Group has entered the tipper and traffic management vehicle market by acquiring Stag Bodies. The new company, Bevan Specialist Products, is now operating from the factory in Stone, Staffordshire, occupied previously by Stag Bodies.
Bevan has taken on all 18 of the former company’s employees, who were turning out 500 vehicles a year. But having already won several orders, the new owner now plans quickly to step-up production.
Bevan, best known as a builder of dry freight box, curtainside and dropside bodies for some of the biggest names on Britain’s roads, has expanded into several new areas of operation over the past five years.
The launch of Bevan Specialist Products means the Bevan Group sales team can now offer steel and alloy tipping bodies for vehicles ranging in GVW from 3.5 to 32 tons.
Bevan Specialist Products also manufactures traffic management bodies and dropsiders, including high-sided units for arboreal work and other, specialized versions. The parent company was already building dropsiders in substantial numbers for high-profile operators such as Jewson at its main production facility in Halesowen, but the acquisition provides useful additional capacity and flexibility to meet customer demand.
“This very exciting development takes us into a completely new market segment, and represents a perfect ‘fit’ for our business,” declared Bevan Group Managing Director Anthony Bevan.
“As well as giving us the opportunity to approach operators we have never worked with before, it allows us to offer an extended range of bodies and services to a number of established customers with which we already enjoy excellent relationships.”
The launch of Bevan Specialist Products follows the Bevan Group’s acquisition in 2010 of PG Reeves, a specialist manufacturer of vehicle bodies for the drinks industry, and in 2014 of Supertrucks, a builder of glass carrying transport systems.
Meanwhile, Bevan has entered strategic partnerships with crane manufacturer HMF in 2010, and in 2013 with Schmitz Cargobull, a move that took it into the temperature-controlled vehicle sector for the first time. Also in 2013, Bevan acquired a shareholding in leading accident repair and refurbishment specialist A&R Vehicle Services with a view, ultimately, to purchasing the entire business.