Call for forklift suppliers to stop ‘cutting each other’s throats’

"If I hire a cement mixer for two days I pay £60 and the machine is worth £600,” said George J Fulston, director, Ful-Ton Forklifts. "When we hire out a forklift worth £15,000, we  can’t get £100 a week. Our trade should be grown up enough to look for a percentage on the capital costs because all we’re doing is cutting each other’s throats.”

George has spent 45 years in the materials handling industry, including 35 years with his own business.

"We have one client who has been hiring a forklift from us since 1996 and the price has gone up only £6 a week in that time.”

George’s firm has been a Doosan dealer for seven years and is happy with the manufacturer.

He added that used trucks are an important part of his business. 

"The other day a guy bought a rebuild from us and he said it was hard to tell the difference between it and a new truck. We are family business and we take pride in what we do.

"Small companies like ours who pay local taxes and employ local people are giving a lot back into the community. We would like to see the Government giving a loyalty bonus to companies like ours, rather than working to help the large corporations.”