AN ambitious Lanarkshire-based attachments provider is aiming to launch its own brand of non-hydraulic attachments after embarking on a change of name and beginning the hunt for larger premises.
Founder William Forrest rebranded Mouse Valley Equipment as The Attachment Company in September to better reflect what the company is about.
The branding and logo are aligned with The Attachment Company in Colorado, USA, which is run by William’s brother Andrew.
The Attachment Company in Scotland is a provider of a wide range of excavator attachments from premium brands including Auger Torque, Simex, Slanetrac, Cangini, Echotec and GB (General Breaker).
William, who runs the operation with his fiancée Laura, told Project Plant how he got involved in the family business and of his ambitions to grow the company further.
“When I left uni, I went to work with my parents, who at the time ran Mouse Valley Plant doing plant hire,” he explained. “All I’ve ever known is just being around that industry. In my time working there I looked to do something a bit more on the sales side. That’s when I started Mouse Valley Equipment at the tail end of 2014.
“We exhibited at ScotPlant in 2016 and 2018 and tried to grow and increase our stock. The start of this year is when I went full-time in the business.”
William’s brother Andrew moved to the US several years ago on a football scholarship and studied engineering. He ended up working at Auger Torque and then Solesbee’s, another Kinshofer company. In 2019 The Attachment Company was launched in Denver, Colorado, specialising in offering attachments for skid steers and excavators to the North American market.
While operating as a separate legal entity, The Attachment Company in Scotland shares the same strong name and branding – with William admitting early feedback from customers on the changes has been wholly positive.
“When Laura and I were looking to go full-time, between that and my parents taking a step back and selling the Mouse Valley Plant name, it made sense that we go our own way and join up with Andrew,” he added.
“We did our first trade show recently with the new name, branding, and logo. It more accurately depicts what we do and what we’re about. Our old name, as much as it meant something to us, didn’t really mean anything to anybody else. I think we should have done it sooner.”
William explained that The Attachment Company was initially built on a relationship with Auger Torque, selling drive units and augers for a wide range of excavators.
“Since then, we’ve picked up other brands and tried to increase our product offering,” he added. “We work with Cangini (an Italian flail manufacturer in the Kinshofer group), we work with Slanetrac (Irish manufacturer of brushes and hedge trimmers), we work with GB (Korean breaker manufacturer). This year we’ve started working with Simex, who make planers and crusher and screening buckets.
“We’ve filled out our product offering and diversified the brands we work with as well.”
When asked what makes a brand a good fit for The Attachment Company, William stressed that the most important thing is the quality of product. He is also unapologetic about his desire to only work with brands which genuinely want to work with The Attachment Company and help support its growth.
“If they don’t produce good products, it’s not something we want to get involved with,” William said. “Our name and our reputation are closely tied to the manufacturers that we work with.
“They also need to want to work with us to try and grow the market and support us as a company. If we get that support, we can then provide that same support to our customers. If it’s us trying to convince manufacturers to work with us, I think it gets the relationship off on the wrong foot.”
William believes being a family business brings many advantages, not least of which is the fact customers have direct access to decision makers. While The Attachment Company is growing, the firm is small and nimble enough that it can change direction and put time and effort into sourcing solutions for customers.
“We try to provide the best service that we can provide,” William added. “That starts with selling good products. I think the only way to build up a good name and a good reputation is to first sell a good product, and then be prepared to back it up. If something goes wrong, we need to be there to look out for it.
“We try to stock as much as possible. We keep parts and back everything up. I’m not interested in just selling something to get a sale. I want to work with customers who ultimately want to keep working with us and come back time after time. In the long-term that makes a difference.”
The Attachment Company will be exhibiting at ScotPlant 2024, with a mission to raise awareness of the change of name. The firm hopes to be in a position by then to launch its own brand of attachments, with William particularly interested in breaking into the thriving tiltrotator market. He also hopes to have news of larger premises to support the next stage of the company’s expansion.
“We’re looking to get our own bigger warehouse,” he stated. “We’ve done that in US where we went from 1,200 to 3,500 sq. ft in Denver. We’re looking to do something similar here. That will give us room for more inventory. We’ll then look to take on potentially one person, maybe two, over the next year, which would be a big step for us to take on a couple of full-time employees.
“Our own brand of non-hydraulic attachments is something we’ve been working on. We’ll be documenting that process on all our social media platforms.”
