The Gough Group today opened a “pop up” branch on the edge of the Christchurch CBD red zone to help service the needs of contractors and the Alliance (Fulton Hogan, Downer Construction, Fletchers, MacDowell NZ and City Care) throughout the demolition and subsequent rebuilding of Christchurch’s city centre and infrastructure.

The branch, on the corner of Lichfield and Barbadoes streets, was officially opened by the member of Parliament for Christchurch Central, Nicky Wagner, this afternoon.

The branch will be staffed by a team of heavy-duty mechanics and technicians and will include CAT sales service and parts, CAT Rental, Transport Wholesale sales, CAT Power Systems and Gough Engineering.

Crusaders George Whitelock, Wyatt Crockett, Ryan Crotty, Nick Barrett, Tom Taylor, and assistant coach Daryl Gibson attended the opening function, talking to contractors in attendance from the CBD red zone, as well as Goughs staff. They also handed out 2012 Crusaders replica jerseys to those lucky contractors drawn out of a prize draw. 

Karl Smith, Chief Executive of the Gough Group, said the aim of the “pop up” branch was to ensure that the deconstruction and later rebuilding of Christchurch was not held back by machinery down time and that the branch provided the most immediate service capability to all contractors operating within the central city.

“One of our key aims is to ensure that operators can get their machines serviced at night so that they are able to work through the daylight hours maximizing productivity for contractors.

“We also have a new fleet of Cat gear arriving over the next few months specifically for this new branch,” he said.

Smith went on to say that even though the year had been one of “huge change,” the Gough Group had achieved several highlights including:

• Completing the roll-out of the three Caterpillar heavy equipment fleets for Solid Energy and the Stockton Alliance, representing 97 new Cat machines valued in excess of $120 million.

• Successful acquisition of Palfinger Australia.

• Supporting the Alliance with OceanaGold in East Otago and Reefton.

• Growth in market share in the civil and earthmoving, forestry and construction sectors plus a record year in sales for Transpecs and Transport Wholesale.

• Growth of the Heavy diesel apprenticeship scheme with another annual intake of 20.

• Improvement in the Group’s safety performance, including a 44% reduction in ‘lost time incident frequency rate’.

“The Gough Group is in good heart thanks to the support of our supply partners, the loyalty of our customers and the hard work of our Gough Group team,” he said.

SAF-Holland Global and Transpecs celebrated their ongoing partnership with a function hosting leading trailer manufacturers, service partners and road transport fleet partners in May.

The function, held at Villa Maria’s Auckland estate, included principals from SAF-Holland, Transpecs, and Transpecs’ parent company, the Gough Group. The event celebrated the organisations 37 year partnership to date and plans for future partnership into the new millennium.

Attending on behalf of SAF-Holland were Detlef Borghardt (President of Trailer Systems) and Alexander Geis (President of Aftermarket).

Karl Smith, CEO of the Gough Group described the partnership with SAF-Holland as a landmark partnership in a similar standing to that which the Gough Group has with Palfinger Austria and Caterpillar USA.

 “Our partnership with SAF-Holland has delivered premium value to both Transpecs and the New Zealand transport industry in general over many years. The outstanding value delivered by the SAF-Holland products, in partnership with our fantastic local team, reflects a benchmark standard of operational performance and profit-potential for our fleet partners” said Mr Smith.

Smith said this enviable long-term partnership has delivered an exacting standard of support for the users of SAF-Holland and Transpecs’ products and services.

“Our product support promise means a lot in the real-world where the quality of support drives the elimination of un-scheduled downtime, and the extension of service life. As a partnership we consistently promise premium performance along with superior long-term profitability”.

“This celebration of our ongoing partnership reinforces that promise” said Mr Smith.

Executives from SAF-Holland, the Gough Group and Transpecs were unanimous in their appreciation of the support shown by fleet, trailer manufacturing and service network partners in New Zealand.

“We thank our partners throughout the local transport industry. We are under no illusions that we must continually strive to drive value through to our partners bottom-lines. This is the competitive edge we promise our customers and the foundation of all our mutual partnerships” said Smith.

SAF-HOLLAND is one of the leading global manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality systems and components for commercial vehicles (trucks and trailers) as well as buses and recreational vehicles. The company has over 2950 employees worldwide, had revenue of Euro 631 million in 2010 and is listed on the S-Dax.

Transpecs is the New Zealand representative for SAF-Holland’s premium range of SAF-branded axle and suspension products since 1994, and Holland-branded trailer fifth wheels, landing legs and ancillary transport equipment since 1974. Transpecs is a 100%-owned subsidiary of the Gough Group.

Pictured from Left: Glenn Stapleton (General Manager – Gough Transport Group), Detlef Borghardt (President of Trailer Systems- SAF-Holland Group), Karl Smith (CEO - Gough Group), Alexander Geis (President of Aftermarket - SAF-Holland) and Scott Holt (National Manager Transport, Gough Transport Group).