Loyalty Works Both Ways!

Austin Carey and his team celebrate ten years in business this year and he candidly attributes their continuing success down to customer loyalty. “There's no doubt that the excellent long-term working partnerships we enjoy with our customers can be put down to a two-way loyalty. We've always worked on the basis that "The Customer is King" and strived to provide a combination of expertise, world class equipment and assiduous product support to try and ensure that this is the way we are perceived in our chosen markets”. He continues “If you can largely achieve this, then the loyalty you give to your customers is reciprocated and we are all proud of the fact that the people we sell to - and it's still very much a people business - usually stick with you and as they grow, so do you. We are not just selling kit” he concludes, “we're providing solutions!”.

Originally starting up as an appointed Powerscreen distributor, Powerscreen (Scotland) Limited, ten years ago from small premises in Stirling, the team set about their business. From these modest but confident beginnings, the first year saw some 18 Powerscreen machines sold, a gratifying turnover of around £1.5M and it was clear that they had very much hit the ground running!

The next few years saw steady growth, serving the quarrying and recycling markets in Scotland and parts of Northern England, gradually establishing themselves as a preferred supplier of Powerscreen screening, washing and recycling plants. Meanwhile, there were three parallel distributorships achieving the same sort of successes south of the border and, as is so often the way in this industry, they were all headed up by close friends who had worked together for many years. 2003 was highly significant, for this was to see all four get together in June of that year to form Blue Machinery Plc and the regional Limited Companies.

Blue Machinery (Central), (London), (Southern) and (Scotland) each serve designated regions, combining resources, experience and expertise by creating a cohesive entity capable of providing a national “solutions provider” to customers with a huge range of quarried and waste materials handling, processing and recycling equipment. Starting out as appointed Powerscreen distributors, Blue Machinery has gradually added compatible product ranges to their enviable portfolio of dealerships and can supply, install, commission, service and maintain machinery programmes from leading marques including Powerscreen, TEREX Pegson, Doppstadt, Kiverco, Backhus, General Kinematics and Telestack.

Ever mindful of the need to provide the best quality after sales care, product support is seen as being of vital importance by the company. Blue Machinery (Scotland), from its own premises and working with sister company Spares UK, provides a genuine 24/7 service, with an impressive parts-holding backed by state-of-the-art IT systems for stock control, ordering and expediting, plus a team of strategically located field service engineers.

The past five years have seen an exponential growth for Blue Machinery (Scotland) and the company now employs 18 personnel, with headquarters in Stirling's Springkerse Industrial Estate on 1½ acres with 8,000 square feet of offices and workshops. Turnover last year was £11M with close to 100 machines being sold. The order books for 2008 are looking extremely healthy and Blue Machinery (Scotland) is forecasting a £15M turnover, with a three year plan to take them to £20M. As a group, Blue Machinery is currently turning over in excess of £60M and looking to pass the magic £100M mark by 2011. This impressive target, says the group, is confidently forecasted because of product development and improvements in technologies for machinery sold to the quarrying sector, the ever-increasing importance of professional recycling and waste management, plus Blue Machinery's avowed intention to continue to grow the spares and service side of the business to provide even greater added value to their customers.

“We are proud of what we have achieved over the past decade in Scotland” says Austin Carey. “Blue Machinery (Scotland), like our other regional companies, is a real success story and living proof that if you look after your customers they will look after you. Watch this space!” he says. “Blue Machinery is an ever evolving entity and will never stand still. We are constantly on the look-out for compatible products to add to our distributorships, to be able to offer even more profitable solutions for our growing and loyal customer base”.