Changing Guard for Auckland Crane Industry

20 April 2009

The business landscape is changing for two of Auckland‘s most well known crane companies. Titan Cranes and Auckland Cranes. Titan Holdings has undergone major restructuring of its Volvo truck and crane business interests with the result that the Auckland branch of Titan Cranes has closed. This bold move has opened a world of opportunity for both Titan Cranes and Auckland Cranes.

Auckland Cranes Managing Director Tony Gibson explains that his company picked up six Titan Cranes staff and bought half a dozen cranes. Remaining Auckland staff were made redundant, and residual cranes sold offshore or redistributed to other Titan Cranes branches around the country.

Titan Business Development Manager Bruce Whiley is quick to reassure customers and industry speculators that the closure is a one-off: "This is the only expected closure no other parts of Titan Group are affected. With a down turn in the economy there was an over supply of cranes in the region. The sale to Auckland Cranes and the movement of cranes to other parts of the Titan business has strengthened operations."

Other reasons also contributed to the closure, including high capital investment in a branch that was performing at a comparably low level over a sustained period. The sale of plant has allowed for a reallocation of Titan Group‘s resources in what promises to be a difficult year of trading for the hire industry.

Titan Cranes remaining six branches stand to benefit from the sale as fleet and equipment have been transferred or upgraded to improve and expand service in other regions. The Titan Group maintains a significant presence in Auckland with a substantial new Titan Plant Services Construction Equipment operation in Wiri.

Tony Gibson says Auckland Cranes is pleased to adopt Titan‘s former customers and is keen to carve further business from the market."It was a good opportunity for us and we took it. We bought Titan‘s biggest crane which is one of the largest cranes in New Zealand, which gives us the ability to access new markets. The purchase has strengthened the business we have in Auckland."

The expansion adds to the Waikato Cranes Services Ltd group, to which Auckland Cranes belongs. Beginning life as GE Foster Ltd in 1960s Hamilton, the company has matured over the decades and now focuses on crane hire. Auckland Cranes was established in 2001 and has depots on the North Shore and in Manakau.

With its Auckland crane hire customers now in safe hands, Titan is keen to get on with the business of reinforcing and expanding its business around the country."I‘m very confident we now have the people, operations and equipment to take advantage of an inevitable construction industry recovery," says Titan Cranes CEO Gordon Stone.