Mervyn Lambert Plant - Profile


There’s nothing wrong with a bit of tongue- in-cheek braggadocio, of course, although the company has the sizeable fleet and services to support its claim. Having outlasted recessions, horrific interest rates and been in business for over 50 years, what is turnover like nowadays?


“It’s no secret, as the information is freely available – annual turnover is around £30 million," says James.


Mervyn Lambert Plant currently offers a mix of plant hire and sales. How do the hire and sales sides of the business compare, and has this the company always been structured this way?


“It’s probably 90% plant hire and 10% sales, but I hope the new Takeuchi dealership will improve the balance,” says James.


“I’ve built up traffic management, safety specialist and rail businesses, and sold them all,” says Mervyn. “We used to have around 125 operators too – over 100 of them driving JCB 3CXs – but the demand changed. We probably have ten 3CXs in the fleet now, and only 20 operators.”


It’s quite a rural location here, although within easy reach of large urban populations centres, such as Norwich, Ipswich and Cambridge. Even so, what sort of customers do you have?


“We do quite a lot of forklifts and telehandlers for local farmers – and that’s not cyclical, unlike the construction industry,” says Mervyn.


“We’re pretty much an hour from every coastline, so we also deal with groundworkers, utilities companies, civil engineering firms and builders. Anglian Water and BAM Nuttall are major clients, but we have around 2000 customers on the books,” adds James.


What sort of plant do your customers hire the most?


“It’s whatever the customer wants,” says James. “When you walk around the yard you’ll see something of everything – even specialised long-reach machines. If a customer wants a machine that we don’t


Mervyn Lambert is now a Takeuchi dealer, and the equipment has its own space in the yard.


have, we’ll buy it. And if it sits in the yard for too long, we’ll sell it – it isn’t rocket science.”


James runs the company day to day but it’s still your name above the door, so to speak. What sort of involvement do you have nowadays?


I’ve interviewed several family companies by now, and they don’t always work harmoniously. What’s it like working together?


“We get on, don’t we?” asks Mervyn.


“I think it’s healthy, because no one else tells him the truth – everyone else just gives him what he wants to hear, and that can be dangerous. I might occasionally have an opinion that causes friction between us, but at the end of the day we’re still here.”


“All I’ll say is, he used to think I didn’t know anything, but he soon realised that his dad understands a thing or two!”


Mervyn Lambert recently became a Takeuchi dealership. How’s that going?


“We have had Takeuchis in the fleet for many years – they’re so well built and reliable. However, we now have a dedicated sales display in the yard, and we offer the full range for sale, with all the support and services offered by Takeuchi. One of the advantages of being a plant hirer and a retailer is that we have one of the largest shop windows going. We’ve only been Takeuchi dealers for two months, but we have already sold 18 machines to customers," explains James.


The large plant hire fleet is well serviced, with every machine treated as ‘number 1’.


“I speak to James and Peter a couple of times a day. I have 350 acres of farmland, which is contracted out, but I’m always thinking about plant hire. What I do most is provide direction and focus. I’m like the captain of a ship – never at the tiller or in the engine room, but plotting the course and avoiding the icebergs!”


COUNTRY FILE See the full range of hire and sales machinery – Takeuchi and other top brands – at www.mervynlambertplant.co.uk


Lastly, now that you’re in charge James, what are your plans for the company?


“We’ve got to where we are now, so instead of trying to get any bigger let’s try to consolidate what we have and do what we do better and cleverer.


“Most of all, I just want to keep the ship afloat, riding out any storms and making sure that everyone is safe in their jobs. Dad has many favourite sayings, but one of his best is ‘business is like a wheelbarrow - nothing happens until you push it!’” n


May 2023 - Executive Hire News 17


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