Grant Handling, a leading material handling supplier, has seen its long-standing relationship with James Burrell extended to include the growing builders’ merchant Ossett, Rotherham and York branches.
The move comes as Grant Handling celebrates 25 years as the preferred handling supplier to the 140-year-old family business and as a direct result of Grant’s own recent expansion.
Terry Andrews, National Sales Manager at Grant Handling says: “We are proud to have worked so closely with the James Burrell team and supported their continued growth over the last 25 years. Our new Leeds site has enabled us to extend the service delivery, which are all so proud of, to customers in new geographical areas, including the few remaining James Burrell sites that we didn’t previously cover.”
Grant Handling is the sole UK importer and distributor of the Heli brand of forklift truck and warehouse equipment. Heli’s extensive range offers quality solutions across all product categories and includes Stage V diesel and Lithium-ion technology.
Grant has also supplied and continues to maintain James Burrells’ Combilift machines – a perennial favourite amongst builders’ merchants.
The entire James Burrell handling fleet of 53 machines is now fully maintained by Grant, who operate a proactive maintenance schedule that sees each machine serviced at least every four months.
Grant’s proactivity continues beyond its service scheduling and forms a core focus within its local depot teams, as Grant Handling’s service manager, Kevin Graham, explains.
“During James Burrell’s busy periods, we hold the extra machines they are most likely to need in stock within our short term rental fleet. So, when required, these can be delivered to site on the same day. We also hold all common parts for Grant’s equipment either in our engineers’ fully equipped vans or on the shelf in the local depot.”
“Having such an in-depth knowledge of James Burrell’s sites and their applications means we understand how to respond when they need us.”
Over the years Grant has supported James Burrell through a variety of operational challenges and, at times, has even provided fully qualified drivers at short notice to avoid operational downtime.
Paul Butler, Fleet Manager at James Burrell, has enjoyed a long working relationship with the Grant Handling team and has high praise for his working counterparts.
“We have enormous trust in the Grant team, which to me is the most important thing. They are a local support team who bring the personal touch and that makes all the difference. Time after time, they have dropped everything to keep us going.”
James Burrell’s positive experience with Grant Handling seems to have also been reflected in the Heli product range, as Mr Butler goes on to note.
“The Heli equipment from Grant is really good kit. We’ve found it very reliable, and parts are readily available when they are required.”
Recent changes to the James Burrell fleet have seen a number of electric Heli machines specified. The first of these has recently entered service and has met with very positive feedback from the onsite team – a clear indication of how effective the latest generation of Heli electric technology is within applications such as builders’ merchants.
