A family-owned business specialising in marine and logistics services across the UK and Europe has been able to introduce a new service and boost its container hire business after working with Briggs Equipment to improve its cargo handling capabilities.

Briggs Equipment has helped Williams Shipping to improve cargo handling capabilities in two key areas of its business.

Following a meeting at Multimodal in 2016, Williams Shipping purchased a refurbished 45 tonne Hyster reachstacker for its logistics business. The company then upgraded the fleet at subsidiary company Willbox by replacing a heavy duty forklift truck with a new 10 tonne Hyster H10XM-6. The overall equipment value is £270,000 and Briggs is providing full maintenance support for both machines.

Founded in 1894, Williams Shipping provides a broad range of services, including vessel charter, port services, transport and logistics, marine lubricants distribution and container hire and sales.

In Southampton, although well located to move flat rack containers from lorries on to ships, Williams Shipping did not have the lifting capacity to deliver this kind of cargo handling service. As part of the company’s strategic business expansion, Briggs was able to provide a quality, LOLER-certified low hours reachstacker that met key budget requirements.

With the capacity to handle 10 tonnes and lift loads to 7 metres, the Hyster forklift is particularly suited to ports and industrial applications with high duty cycles and extreme conditions. Operating in a small yard and working under low doorways, this compact machine is helping Williams Shipping’s subsidiary company Willbox to increase container throughput.

Willbox operates 18 regional depots across the UK and is one of the country’s leading providers of containers for hire and sale. Serving a wide range of domestic and commercial uses, including onsite storage and site accommodation, its versatile container types include offshore, flat pack and ISO tanks, as well as refrigerated containers.

Managing Director Jonathan Williams said: “As a company we put great emphasis on relationships with suppliers as well as customers and from the outset we were impressed with Briggs Equipment’s commitment to helping us achieve reliable, cost-effective handling solutions for two important areas of our business.”

Maintenance was a key factor in the decision making process. Both Williams Shipping’s logistics operation and Willbox would incur significant costs if its machines were out of action for any length of time, since they would have to bring in short term hire equipment to minimise any adverse effect on productivity.

Steve Fogg, Heavy Truck Manager at Briggs Equipment, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Williams Shipping and Willbox with complete cargo handling solutions.

“We appreciate that when it comes to maintenance, flexibility is vital, so we take the time to understand the applications, making sure our engineers are able to work around the constraints associated with a busy operation that supports the requirements of shipping lines, oil terminals, freight forwarders, ships agents and civil engineers.”

Briggs Equipment is a unique engineering and equipment provider, which relishes delivering innovation. With a team of more than 600 engineers throughout the UK, the company also provides global equipment and maintenance support though its partnership with the Ministry of Defence. In addition to being the sole UK distributor for Yale and Hyster forklifts, Briggs enjoys strategic partnerships that offer customers a total solution and services all the equipment it sells. So, whether it’s new, used or short-term hire equipment, Briggs has a proposition far more reaching than materials handling. The company’s market leading fleet management tool, BE Portal, plays a pivotal role in driving up standards of customer service and its in-house financing capability, BE Finance, offers customers greater flexibility. Briggs is transforming the industry by placing customers at the heart of everything it does. Discover more @BriggsUK

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