MOLSON Scotland is enjoying the first stages of its move to a new home in Newhouse, North Lanarkshire, paving the way for a bright future for the single-source construction equipment supplier.
While plans for the wider site are still awaiting full planning approval, the business has closed its depots in Doune and Bothwell and relocated to the five-acre purpose-built site which will enable a greater stockholding of both machines and parts, as well as increased service capability.
Sales director Alistair Murdoch said, “We’re going to be building new workshops and a new office. The location is close to the M8 so we can service both Glasgow and Edinburgh with ease, with link roads to further north. The site is operational now but we’re in there in a temporary capacity at the moment until we receive full planning permission.”
Alistair revealed that Molson has enjoyed its best ever start to a year in Scotland, with customers investing in their fleets to service a variety of projects from A9 road upgrades and wind farm and utility schemes in the north of the country to housebuilding developments in the central belt.
Molson’s equipment portfolio ranges from Kobelco excavators, Merlo telehandlers and Ammann compaction kit to Thwaites dumpers, Eggersmann waste processing models, Sennebogen material handlers, and Finlay tracked crushing and screening solutions.
“All of our markets have had a good start to the year,” Alistair added. “A lot of customers have been very buoyant and jobs have been starting. People have had their challenges over the past couple of years but, up until recent weeks with the military operations in Iran, the market has been stable, and companies are re-investing back into their plant.
“The excavator market is starting to grow again. We’re selling Kobelcos to customers who have never ran that product before.”
While the situation in the Middle East is likely to have an impact on fuel costs, Molson sees this as an opportunity for the business to support customers feeling the pinch.
“We have one of the most fuel-efficient excavators in the market in Kobelco,” added Alistair. “We’re offering great quality products but also backing them up and encouraging repeat business because of the level of service our customers receive.
“The Iran situation has put pressure on businesses. People are going to feel the pinch on their cash flow with fuel bills going up, and a lot of conversations are going to be about fuel efficiency. Something we’ve been strong advocates of for a long time now is trialling, testing, and working with third parties in terms of alternative fuel – everything from hydrogen through to electric drive. We’ve got good knowledge and solutions on this, starting at the baseline of just offering machines that perform really well.
“This is particularly true of the Kobelco range, but you can also stretch that into the Eggersmann range, and the Finlay products are also proving very economical on fuel consumption. We think that’s going to be a conversation topic and we’d love to speak to people about how we can help reduce their fuel bill by offering some great machines.”
Thoughts turned to a more sombre note, with the announcement from Rokbak of the recent decision by Volvo to close the articulated hauler business due to rising costs and global trade challenges. Molson has been a Rokbak dealer since 2019 and has vowed to continue supporting customers who have purchased a Rokbak hauler.
“As well as our customers who have purchased Rokbak units from us, we’re also thinking of our new neighbours, particularly those at Rokbak whose jobs are no longer secure, and we’ll do whatever we can to support that,” Alistair added. “If we’ve got any opportunities, we’ll be reaching out. From our customers’ point of view, we will continue to stand by anyone who has bought a Rokbak product from us, both in terms of service, warranty, and provision of parts throughout the lifecycle of that machine.”
