HYBRID technology has been a welcome addition to WM Rose & Sons’ inventory of construction machinery this year, with the Scottish Borders-based firm now stocking Niftylift mobile elevating work platforms.
Director Ian Rose told Project Plant that the family-run firm came across the Milton Keynes-headquartered manufacturer during the search for a replacement for a previous supplier.
He explained that the range has been increased ‘dramatically’ with the ‘unique’ features of the machinery adding additional benefits to the line.
“Niftylift is a well-established manufacturer in the UK, they’ve won many industry awards – including the Queens Award for Enterprise several times,” Ian said. “They are quite advanced in innovative technology including hybrid-type machines, which we’re really pleased about and we think there’ll be more and more demand for that type of machine.”
Ian spoke of the shift in the market for greener machines, saying, “We believe environmentally-friendly machines are what our customers are looking for.
“City centre applications want low noise and low environmental impact, so we believe that’s going to be really important going forward.”
Simon Maher, marketing manager of Niftylift, explained the features of the machinery further: “We specialise in designing and manufacturing machines that are environmentally-conscious; our machines are all designed to be compact and as lightweight as possible whilst still providing the maximum outreach performance.
“The hybrid-powered machines use a smaller, more efficient diesel engine than you would need if the machine was diesel only – so we’re able to use a smaller engine that’s power optimised, and then when it needs more power under high usage the batteries automatically kick in and support the diesel engine’s power.”
Further to hybrid machines, Niftylift has added electrically powered models to its portfolio, as well as ensuring that all of the machines on offer are Stage V compliant – which all non-road vehicles entering the EU market need to be by 2021. Stage V will seek to ensure there are tighter limits on emissions from such vehicles.
Simon added, “The environmentally-conscious angle is becoming more important everywhere, so obviously Scotland would absolutely be an area we try and push this message.”
