New business Bevan Specialist Products is now trading from the factory in Stone, Staffordshire, occupied previously by Stag Bodies. Bevan has taken on all 18 of the former company’s employees – they were turning out in the region of 500 vehicles a year, but having already won several orders the new owner now plans quickly to step-up production.
Best-known as a builder of dry freight box, curtainside and dropside bodies, over the last five years the Bevan Group has expanded into several new areas of operation. The company also manufactures traffic management bodies and dropsiders, including high-sided units for arboreal work and other, specialised versions.
The launch of Bevan Specialist Products means the Bevan Group sales team can now offer steel and alloy tipping bodies for vehicles ranging in size from 3.5 to 32 tonnes gvw.
Chris Wilkes has transferred from his previous senior role at Bevan’s Oldbury operation, to take the helm as general manager at Bevan Specialist Products. “Stag Bodies had a good name in the industry for the quality and durability of its products, and I’m confident this acquisition will prove to have been a wise investment for the Group,” he said.
“With Bevan’s financial muscle, and sales and marketing expertise behind it, there’s every reason for Bevan Specialist Products to look forward to a period of rapid growth.”
Meanwhile, Bevan has entered strategic partnerships with crane manufacturer HMF in 2010, and in 2013 with Schmitz Cargobull, a move that took it into the temperature-controlled vehicle sector for the first time. Also in 2013, Bevan acquired a shareholding in leading accident repair and refurbishment specialist A&R Vehicle Services with a view, ultimately, to purchasing the entire business.
Within the same five-year period Bevan has introduced its Graphics operation, and invested heavily in the expansion of its Aftercare division, which last year signed another partnership deal with tail-lift manufacturer DEL.