In March, the Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA) organised two member visits to Ritchie Bros and JCB’s global headquarters.

Many members chose to attend both visits, the first of which took place in South Yorkshire at Maltby, home to Ritchie Bros, the world’s largest auctioneer of commercial assets and vehicles.

Ritchie Bros

Ritchie Bros positions itself as a one-stop shop for everything for an equipment and truck business to succeed, offering buying and selling solutions, market insights and valuation, global buyers and fleet management tools.

11 SPOA members visited Ritchie Bros, where Rupert Craven and Christopher Thomson gave an interesting presentation on Ritchie Bros worldwide; current market trends; estimated bidders, buyers and sellers; and where most machinery from the auction ends up.

Members toured the sales yard where there was everything from small hand tools to 100 tonne mining machines. The visit took place two days before a large auction and SPOA members were privileged to be able to inspect the machinery and even drive some of the auction lots. This encouraged some of our members to register for bidding. Some bids from the SPOA delegation were even successful with equipment heading north to Scotland a few days later.

Whilst some members headed home, the majority travelled south to Staffordshire to visit JCB’s global headquarters, a bucket list item for many in the plant industry.

Viewing the auction lots at Ritchie Bros.

JCB

Located at Lakeside Works in Rocester, the site is truly a destination. Even if you are not involved in the plant industry, the landscaped grounds with lakes, sculptures and fountains are open to the public and well worth a visit.

16 SPOA members joined the trip which was an amazing opportunity to venture behind the scenes of JCB’s world famous diggers.

Upon arrival, members had their photo taken with the one millionth JCB backhoe loader which stands proud in the reception. Members then watched a presentation in the JCB theatre about the history of JCB, its global presence, now with 19,000 employees and where JCB is heading in the future.

SPOA members with the one millionth JCB backhoe loader.

A tour guide then gave a personal tour of the ‘’Story of JCB’’ exhibition where members viewed designs, protypes and the first machines made by JCB, all the way through to machines manufactured today.

Following lunch, the visit continued with tours of four different factories and the chance to see the assembly line of the world-famous backhoe loader machine. Here members saw the process of how the machine is built - from the delivery of the sheet steel, profiling, laser cutting, welding, paint shop, assembly and finally the finished product.

Many members were impressed with the attention to detail and the staff motivation which was evident throughout the visit.

Commenting on the JCB visit, David Brown from Deeside Road Construction said: “I would highly recommend a visit to JCB for anyone considering purchasing their equipment as it provides valuable insight into the quality and manufacturing processes behind their machines.”

JCB Sales General Manager Chris Burton said: “It was an enormous pleasure to host members of the Scottish Plant Owners Association. Many of its members are JCB customers so it was a great opportunity to build and strengthen relationships.”

Ross Smith from Anderson Smith Insurance Brokers was lucky enough to attend both visits. Speaking about the experience, he said: “As a new member of the SPOA, the trip to Ritchie Bros and JCB headquarters was most enjoyable. As corporate insurance brokers, we did not buy any equipment, but the insight into the inner workings of the auctions, prices and types of plant sold was very interesting.

“The JCB exhibition was fascinating and JCB is truly one of Britain’s business successes. It was a great trip and we really enjoyed meeting and networking with fellow SPOA members. Thank you to James Currie for hosting.”

James Currie, who organised the trips and attended as a representative of the SPOA’s Executive Committee, added: “I would like to express my gratitude to the teams at Richie Bros and JCB. We were made very welcome and gained valuable insights on both days which I’m sure will be useful for plant owners going forward.

“It was encouraging to see so many members joining these visits and really engaging with the companies hosting us. The SPOA hopes to arrange more visits like this in the future, and we would love to hear from members on what kind of trips would be of interest.”

Got an idea for a member visit? Email the team on info@spoa.org.uk.

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