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UK trailer-makers see volumes fall back
Page 7
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By David Harris TRAILER-MAKER Dennison dismissed suggestions this week that its Irish factory was to close.
James Dennison, managing director of the company in the UK, says that both its Lancaster factory and its factory in Naas, Co Kildare, in the Republic of Ireland, will remain open. Dennison says he has had several enquiries about whether the Irish factory is going to close, but says these are based on unsubstantiated rumours.
He adds that Dennison needs both factories to produce its trailers. The Naas factory is used for the main structures, with the finishing-off work done in Lancaster.
But like other trailermakers (1-lard choices for trailer makers as demand falls', CM 15 January), Dennison admits production has fallen to "substantially less" than the 60 trailers a week it was making at its peak. Staff levels have also fallen from a peak of 200, although Dennison is reluctant to put a figure on how many redundancies the firm has made. Meanwhile, Cartwright Group director Steven Cartwright says it is now making around 60 trailers a week against 120 at its maximum. But he adds that the company continues to do well because it is getting more rigid and swap body work, and is doing a lot of this for customers including TNT, DHL and the Royal Mail.
Its trailer rental business is also earning the firm money in the downturn. It has 8,000 trailers for rent this year compared with 7,000 last year; the increase is almost entirely down to a rise in short-term trailer rentals, from 2,000 to 3,000.