News

Over 150 jobs have been lost with the slide of demount system and tail-lift specialist Ray Smith Group (RSG) into administration just before Christmas. Administrators Baker Tilly say that it was impossible for the business to keep trading. RSG executives blame a combination of factors, including an inability to obtain truck chassis to build on thanks to long lead times, and intense price competition. One order for 400 demounts from a major own-account operator was apparently lost at the last moment  to a rival who undercut RSG by 30%.

Another problem was a shortage of running gear for the specialist trailers it was constructing. On top of that were the difficulties inherent in manufacturing goods in the UK and making a profit in the teeth of low-cost foreign competition says former managing director, David Browning, who retired from the business last year on health grounds. "That was certainly the position with tail-lifts," he comments. Rising raw material costs and a shortage of skilled labour took their toll too. "Eventually the banks pulled the plug," he says.

Fellow Peterborough firm Lawrence David has acquired the RSG One-Call aftersales support operation and has recruited former RSG technical director John Holland to run its cold store division. The trailer maker has also taken on around a dozen skilled shop floor workers previously employed by RSG and may in future start supplying its own demount equipment, says managing director Lawrence Marshall. "We have  no plans to produce tail-lifts however," he adds.

Lawrence David will be building the lifting decks it formerly sourced from the collapsed company in-house. Last November Marshall was seeking new premises to help it tackle a backlog of orders, but has no plans to take on RSG’s Fengate plant. "The yard isn’t big enough for our requirements and in any event we’ve just moved into three additional factories in and around the city," he says.