UK – The UK’s largest tipper body builder, Thompsons Group of Croydon, announced in Harrogate at TipEx 2019 at the end of May, that over the past two years it has invested GBP4.5m in new technologies at its Croydon, Blackburn and Edinburgh facilities, enhancing quality still further and cutting build times in the process.

According to Scott Burton, joint managing director at Thompsons, last year, at its Croydon operations, where it has three factories of its eight factories, it invested GBP500,000.00 on installing a new shot blast and paint facility; this, Burton said, gives Thompsons’ tippers a quality of final finish that is unsurpassed in the industry. This year, Burton added, it has commissioned a new Trumpf 3030 laser cutter costing GBP600,000 to replace the Bystronic machine that it effectively wore out in just five years. Burton said this investment was about increasing production efficiency, which, in his view is about two things; speed of production coupled with the quality and accuracy of the components and final product.