NEW YEAR NEW OPPORTUNITY

Fox Group is looking forward to its centenary and beyond by becoming LiuGong’s newest UK dealer. Established in 1932, the fourth-generation family business now has 32 branches from Newcastle down to the Isle of Man and a fleet of more than 4,000 machines. As part of his drive to become a major player in the UK construction industry, CEO Paul Fox has announced his partnership with the OEM, which officially begins in January.

From self-drive and operation plant hire, earthworks and remediation to muck away, aggregates, haulage and recycling, the wide range of services Fox Group businesses offer reflect Paul’s ambition and forwardthinking approach. With this focus on the future, finding the best OEM partner to diversify and electrify the group’s fleet is what drew Paul to the LiuGong brand.

A FAMILY FIRM

From an early age, Paul knew his future would lie in the family business. Starting in the workshops as an apprentice, he was working with fitters to wash and grease machines long before leaving school. Raised by his grandfather, who ran Fox Brothers during his childhood, Paul started delivering diesel and worked as a rep after passing his driving test.

PAUL FOX CEO Fox Group

At the age of 23, a sudden change in circumstances established Paul’s place at the head of the group. “I was working on the hire desk when my grandfather fell ill,” he explains. “He passed away on 11th June 2007 and at that point, I was on my own. Since then, I’ve made some catastrophic mistakes but we’ve got through them. I didn’t really have a choice about being part of the family business, but I didn’t want one. I loved what we did as a kid and love what we do now.”

Over the last 16 years, the group’s fleet has continued to grow alongside the business and its services. With 350 wagons on the road, the bulk of the aggregate haulage fleet is made up of 250 eight-wheeler tippers. Alongside this, the group’s plant hire businesses run machines from 1 to 90 tonnes in size. Loading shovels, dozers, crushers and screeners operate within the group’s earthworks and quarrying fleet.

As Paul admits himself, operating this size of fleet across various locations can be challenging. “The last few years have been a big learning curve. The business has grown with acquisitions and the types of jobs we do. This means the fleet has had to expand with it. Just like any other operator, getting machines that perform is key for us. More recently, building a fleet that can add value to the business has become a bigger focus.”

ADDING VALUE WITH ELECTRIC

Like other early adopters, Fox Group has demoed a variety of new electric machines, including trucks and loaders. The first tipper operator in the UK to start the transition from diesel to electric machines, the business also became a European leader by making this move. Yet, for Paul, the future of construction businesses like his has to involve more than adding electric vehicles to a fleet.

“Just like any other operator, getting machines that perform is key for us...

“Electric vehicles are here, there’s no point thinking they’re not,” he says. “We’re starting to see more tenders and supplier questionnaires for Tier 1 and Tier 2 contractors asking about what our carbon zero plan is. There are a lot of businesses that claim they’re making sustainability changes but aren’t doing half of what they say. By taking the electric trucks into our fleet, we put our heads above the parapet and showed we were making a genuine commitment.”

Beyond electrifying parts of its fleet, Fox Group has rolled out carbon reduction measures across its wider operations. Introducing technologies like solar panels, battery storage and LED lights is just the first step to minimising their carbon footprint, which stood at 18,500 tonnes last year.

In January, the business opened a railhead in Leyland. From here, aggregate is loaded off trains onto the EV Trucks and wagons. This means the business can now sell twice as much stone as it did with the equivalent number of wagons on the road, reducing carbon and adding real value to the business.

As a business, our CSR, ESG and Carbon reduction plan is closely monitored ,as it adds value to the business. It is also very challenging within our industry, the LiuGong electric range will help us on our carbon reduction path.

Yet despite the progress made by Fox Group in adopting new technologies and minimising its emissions footprint, there are still barriers to the industry making real headway, Paul explains. “I doubt our tipper fleet will ever be 100% electric. Though battery technology is running at a pace, the grid infrastructure across the UK just isn’t there. I don’t think we’ll see full electrification unless there’s a massive upgrade to this.”

DISCOVERING LIUGONG

Paul became aware of the LiuGong brand after the group acquired B&W Plant Hire. As part of this deal, the fleet inherited between 80 and 90 machines, including excavators and loading shovels. When reviewing the fleet’s range and fuel economy alongside the types of customers they were hiring out to, the wider businesses started to demo more LiuGong machines.

Taking this closer look helped the group tap into better value. As Paul outlines, “These machines were made with same quality parts as other OEMs but just bolted together differently. Plus, when you compare the standard spec from LiuGong to other brands, you get much more for your money. Extras like four-way proportional hydraulics, heated seats and green seatbelt lights can cost between £10,000 and £12,000 more in other ranges, but come as standard in LiuGong’s models.”

“The Fox Group is really excited about this opportunity with LG LIUGONG

Impressed by the machines’ performance, Paul started working with LiuGong’s UK Managing Directors Brian Prescott and Steve Ford. Ordering replacement machines into the fleet, he also committed to a replacement programme which will see the core of his fleet switch to the LiuGong brand over the next five to six years.

“Then Brian and Steve brought up the question, ‘Do you fancy being a dealer?’” Paul continues. “After thinking about it, I realised it did fit our business model. We’re always selling plant hire machinery because we’re replacing it. We’ve got good access to the market and a UK depot network that makes sales and servicing coverage easier. We already had engineers, we just needed to recruit sales reps and the right director to run it all, which we’ve found in Ged Fitzsimons.”

LiuGong is a new face in the UK market, but its global reputation for reliability has proven true for Fox Group, which has had no negative customer feedback since taking on the dealership. Paul states, “We’ve had no warranty or breakdown issues. That’s despite customers using the machines for every application.”

As well as offering LiuGong greater market access, Paul hopes the group’s position as a sizeable operatordealer will give customers greater confidence in the brand. Plus, the OEM’s new electric and dozer products will help other businesses tap into the value Fox Group has already enjoyed by adopting LiuGong machines.

“The Fox Group is really excited about this opportunity with LiuGong,” says Paul

“We’ll support each other and it’ll help us grow both our brands. The dealership will only be a good thing for our business..."

With the amount of machines we run and the commitment we’ve made, they’ll have more market share through our hire fleet and we look forward to selling lots of their machines in 2024.”

“I’d like to give particular thanks to Brain Prescott and Steve Ford who walked into this office, saw the type of business and people we are and thought, ‘These guys can help us grow’.”