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Wilcox is moving back to the future
Page 21
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• Just one year after a management buyout rescued it from the debris of the collapsed old United Trailers group (the United Trailers name continuing after a separate MBO by Marcus Layton), Wilcox is becoming firmly re-established doing what it does best—making traditional alloy tipper bodies and trailers.
With Chris Bartlett looking after engineering issues and Vito Ronzano overseeing production and admin, Wilcox Commercial Vehicles has effectively achieved its initial first-year targets by building 139 rigid bodies and 104 trailers.
Although sales were around 5% below target, the financial bottom line is 5% higher; a fact attributed to the new management team's priority of controlling costs. And the stimulated demand brought by the new 44-tonne rules has been no bad thing either.
Operating out of the brand's former site at Market Deeping, near Peterborough, the new company employs 39, most of whom worked for the original concern.
It's obvious the new management is taking a conservative approach to restoring the firm to full health. Wilcox's plan is not to dominate the market but to provide a niche sector with the products it wants. All trailers are built to order but Wilcox is determined that unprofitable orders won't make it onto the order book, and that realistically quoted delivery dates will be honoured.
Exports to Ireland are already hap pening in a small way, and other markets are being looked at, but don't expect to see Wilcox at the Amsterdam Show.
Ronzano admits that development of new products will be unlikely in the first two or three years while the business systems take priority. But this seems to be a minor issue, with most of customers wanting traditional products "just like the one we had last time". Indeed much of its output can easily trace its parentage to the early sixties, But it's not all hand-knEtted, cottage industry stuff: Wilcox trailers in particular feature fully contemporary specifications (see panel). The Wilcox range of rigid tipper bodies now starts with the basic dropside with top-hinged tailgate, as popular as ever for local authority and utility work. A three-way-tipping version still doesn't seem to want to catch on in the UK as it has elsewhere in Europe.
Wilcox's longest lasting product is the original Wilcolite tipper. It may be able to trace its roots to the 1962 product, but development has been continuous. For example, a front safety catwalk with integrated access ladder and handrails ensures safe operation.
Wilcox's most modern tipper body, the Wilcolite Smooth insulated asphalt carrier, was launched under the previous administration and is still selling well. In the rigid sector the majority of its bodies are raised by Edbro gear with more than 90% featuring front-end tipping.
It's early days yet, but after a period when its fortunes have been going up and down as fast as its tippers, it looks like the Wilcox name will still be around for a good few years to come.
• by Colin Barnett