MCHALE Plant Sales has told Project Plant that ‘significant investments’ are planned for Scotland in the coming years to support its mission to be a one-stop-shop provider of equipment for quarrying and contracting customers.
It was announced late last year that McHale had agreed a deal to acquire Marubeni-Komatsu, the distributor of Komatsu construction and utility equipment across the UK, and intended to trade as McHale Komatsu in the UK.
The move marked a major milestone for the business, which has a base in Edinburgh and is also the distributor for Metso machinery and equipment.
Darragh O’Driscoll, McHale Plant Sales business development director, explained to Project Plant why he believes Komatsu machines are such a good fit for the company.
“We believe in the product, we enjoy supporting our customers’ businesses with an excellent product and back-up service,” he said. “Komatsu machines are world-renowned for their quality, and the McHale team is steeped in Komatsu with over 30 years of Komatsu distribution in Ireland.
“We enjoy a good relationship with Komatsu, who’ve proven to be a very supportive and reliable partner over the years.”
As a full-line service provider, Darragh outlined McHale’s ambitions to grow the brand further in all product categories.
“We plan to further develop our customer offering with investments in stock to improve machine availability, investments in aftersales to improve customer service and response times, and to increase Komatsu coverage across the country with further recruitment to our sales team,” he added. “We see synergies with our Metso UK business and both products are complementary in quarrying, mining, and recycling.
“With tentative signs of a recovery in the UK economy we see opportunity to develop the Komatsu brand further in infrastructure and civil engineering, quarrying and mining, construction, agri, demolition and recycling.”
McHale is rolling out Komatsu Finance across the UK, which Darragh said will be a benefit to customers with flexible financing solutions available and ‘very competitive‘ interest rates.
The business is planning to recruit for new roles in sales to improve coverage to reach customers in all parts of the country.
“We also plan to develop our service team with the recruitment of new engineers in order to respond quickly to customer needs and ensure they are getting the best out of their Komatsu equipment,” Darragh revealed. “While we have some excellent, strategically located facilities across the UK we’ll keep an open mind on further facility investments if it can improve the service we offer to our customers. “
Scotland is a key area of focus, with investments planned north of the border over the next five years in renewable energy, transport, health, housing, and digital connectivity.
“We have a very experienced team in Scotland and we plan to strengthen it further to meet the needs of our customers who will drive the infrastructure developments that are planned,” Darragh added. “We are now in a good position to provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ offering to quarrying and contracting customers in Scotland with both Komatsu and Metso distribution.
“We are delighted to roll out our very competitive Komatsu Finance offering to our Scottish customers and we look forward to meeting them at ScotPlant and Black Isle shows this year.”
Darragh describes the UK construction equipment sector as ‘probably the most competitive in Europe’. In that environment, Komatsu stands out courtesy of being a full-line service provider serving all equipment sectors.
“Customers can rest assured of excellent Komatsu build quality,” Darragh concluded. “They are very reliable and durable machines that perform very well in all applications.
“With a very strong global reputation, Komatsu machines maintain high residual values. Extensive warranty and service packages and a very competitive finance offering ensure we can meet even the most demanding customer needs.”
