Sellout show for Effer

Italian knuckle boom crane manufacturer Effer sold all the cranes it had on display at its first UK exhibition last month.

Effer sold all seven of its cranes on display at the SED 2007 construction equipment exhibition where it was testing the market for the first time. The company organised transport for the remaining three of its unsold cranes on the penultimate day (23 May) of the show but had to re-arrange haulage with a local company when UK buyers bought them.

The largest crane on show was the 114 tonne-metre rated model 1550. Its chart shows it will lift 23.2 tonnes at 4.91 m radius or 10.9 tonnes at 10.6 m. Maximum reach with jib is 36.2 m. Jeremy Newman, Effer UK sales manager, said it was difficult to promote a brand that customers are not instantly familiar with. “This was the first time we have exhibited in England and it was an occasion to put our name in front of a majority of buyers there. It was very good indeed ” when you start with zero, the only way is up.”

Effer started its sales network in the UK at the end of 2006, where it now has two agents, with more expected to follow. “Effer is has an international market and England is a quite significant and growing market place. There was a view that a majority of the English market was brick and block but there is a market for large and super-large machines. There are not many manufacturers that can provide that sort of equipment,” Newman commented.