VP buys UK attachments business

UK rental company Vp plc has acquired the attachments rental division of Sandhurst Ltd for £3.3 million (€3.8 million). The acquired business rents excavator attachments for construction and demolition applications.

Sandhurst Manufacturing Co Ltd will now focus on its attachments retail and manufacturing businesses. It sold its other rental business, for access equipment, to A-Plant in 2017.

Jeremy Pilkington, Chairman of Vp plc, said; ”The acquisition of Sandhurst adds another new product specialisation to Vp’s UK portfolio and I am delighted to welcome the experienced Sandhurst team to the Vp Group.” VP said Sandhurst will operate alongside its piling business, Groundforce.

Tim Dean, Sandhurst’s chairman, who founded the business in 1972, said; “The loyal staff of the rental division are very safe in the hands of VP, and we wish our friends and colleagues at VP Sandhurst every success.”

Sandhurst has recently begun production of a new attachment, the Articulator 5000, capable of handling multiple types of loads of up to 5000kg. The company is also developing its own brand of demolition hammers.

More than a decade ago Sandhurst also produced lighting towers, marketed under the SMC brand. That business was sold to Morris Site Machinery in 2008. Morris still manufactures and sells SMC-branded lighting towers.