SEE US ON STAND A52
“Our DNA is in hire”
Robert Aplin talks with Matthew Hill, MD of Obart Pumps Ltd about the company’s continuous expansion and its latest products to be launched at the Show.
Obart Pumps Ltd MD Matthew Hill is justifiably proud of his company’s position as a significant stakeholder in our hire industry. Originally formed in 1972 as the plant sales division of hirer Campbell Gray, run by Matthew’s father John Hill, Obart became the distributor for Tsurumi pumps in 1976, although Campbell Gray had imported these pumps for use in its own hire fleet a year earlier.
“My father certainly hired out the first genuinely portable submersible pump in the London area, and probably in the UK. Our DNA is in hire.” As a 14 year old boy in 1978, Matthew even visited Tsurumi‘s factory in Japan with his father. Since then, Obart has built its business - and its reputation - on Tsurumi. “The pumps are typically Japanese - high on quality control, in that every pump, not just one in a batch, is tested before it leaves the factory. The manufacturer also invests heavily in R&D, although its pumps are priced realistically.
“Obart is the only submersible pump supplier to offer a three year guarantee. Tsurumi only offers a one year guarantee, but we’re prepared to extend this as we know the units are so reliable. Last November we were appointed by Tsurumi as exclusive distributors of its
The exceptional summer floods of 2007 were described as ‘the biggest civil emergency in British history.’ We witnessed the wettest summer since records began, with extreme levels of rainfall compressed into relatively short periods of time. We were also told at that time that the scale of the problem was likely to get worse, and that we must adapt to increasing flood risk. How true that turned out to be. As I write this on the last working day before Christmas, there are no fewer than 89 flood warnings and 284 flood alerts throughout the UK on the Environment Agency website.
Obart has certainly adapted to these risks as Matthew Hill seemingly has the Government’s 2008 Report into the floods committed to memory. He recalls that, “the loss of a water treatment works in Gloucestershire left 350,000 people without mains water supply. An electricity sub-station was shut down leaving 42,000 people without power in Gloucester for up to 24 hours. One of the recommendations was that every electricity sub-station must have a set of pumps to protect it and we have sought to provide our pumps wherever possible.
Matthew Hill has built Obart’s reputation on Tsurumi pumps.
110V and 230V contractors pumps, and since, 2000, we have been its most successful independent European dealer.”
However, Tsurumi doesn’t make every pump imaginable, so Obart also markets pumping equipment from Honda, APP and Speroni. “All of these brands have the same high reliability. APP offers a successful range of submersible pumps for re-selling and many hirers are taking advantage of this, backed by our reputation for service and sales support.”
Since moving into its new 15,000ft2 warehouse and offices in April
2008, Obart hasn’t looked back. These premises have enabled the company to double its stock of pumps, which, has helped it to better cope with the widely fluctuating demands experienced during periods of extreme weather in recent years.
38 Dehydro pumping kits
“The overall recommendation of the Report was that people need to be more prepared for flooding. In response to this increased risk, we have developed a range of Dehydro emergency pumping kits for sale and hire and these will be launched at the Show. The kits have been designed to enable householders and businesses to be ready to act quickly to defend their properties, thereby reducing demand on overstretched emergency services and local councils.
“Each kit has a powerful drainage pump, two packs of FloodSax Door and discharge hoses for defending a property from flooding. Depending on which kit is selected, the pump is designed to pump water down to a level of between 3mm and 1mm. Hoses are light, easy to position and have quick connectors to ensure fast deployment in an emergency. Supplied in a sturdy easy-to-carry
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