Member Article

£750,000 investment drive marks big anniversary for Totalkare

The UK’s leading provider of lifting and testing solutions is embarking on a £750,000 investment drive that will help it boost sales by 25%.

Totalkare, which employs over 50 people at its facility in Halesowen, is looking to build on a record 2019 by implementing a new ERP system and kickstarting a project that will see it relocate to a new purpose-built site in the Midlands.

It comes at a perfect time for the business as it celebrates 40 years of supplying heavy duty vehicle lifts in the UK to clients involved in the bus and coach, commercial motor and heavy haulage sectors.

“We felt it was the right time to lay the foundations for our next four decades,” explained David Hall, who led a Management Buy-out of the company in May 2018.

“The business will always be based on the founding principles of customer care and being experts in our field and we want to put a marker in the sand for the next stage of our development.”

He continued: We have already started the process of implementing a new ERP system that will give us lots of internal and external efficiency improvements and this will pave the way for our relocation to a new purpose-built site.

“In total, this is a significant spend for us and we are in the final stages of negotiations on a great location that is close to our current home in Halesowen.

“It’s a necessary move to give us the ability to optimise the workflow on the shop floor and increase our capacity to hold stock of mobile column lifts, brake testers, headlamp testers and other future products.”

Previously known as Somers Handling, Somers Vehicle Lifts and Somers Totalkare, the company is respected throughout the UK for being an industry-leader in the supply, service and maintenance of two and four post lifts, mobile column lifts and forklifter ramp systems.

Many of its clients have benefitted from Totalkare lifting solutions for 40 years and are now beginning to tap into the recently introduced range of brake and headlamp testers - a real gamechanger and a key driver in a 25% increase in sales since the MBO.

James Radford, Sales and Marketing Director at Totalkare, went on to add: “Our customers had been asking us about the possibility of supplying them with these products, so we came up with the highest quality mobile and in-ground brake testers and a range of headlamp testers.

“That was the first stage. We then had to replicate our approach with lifting solutions in ensuring we became a respected expert in the testing field and the easiest way of achieving this quickly was recruiting two specialists in Graham Simmons and Luke Simmons.”

Mobile brake testers have led the way thanks to their flexibility - the galvanised finish meaning they can be used just as effectively outside as inside, giving customers maximum workshop utilisation.

The garage owner can’t afford the time and cost delays involved in getting customer vehicles in for the brake test and, if there is significant downtime, they will quickly find that the client will go elsewhere.

Whilst there is an initial investment to be made, Totalkare expect this outlay could be recouped in the first year and the durability of its brake testers mean they can withstand huge workloads and can be configured to suit specific requirements.

David concluded: “R&D continues at pace and we are already planning the introduction of another new range of products and increasing the capabilities of our existing ones. We’ve got to stay ahead of the competition - great products with excellent service, that’s the Totalkare way.”

For further information, please visit www.totalkare.co.uk or follow @totalkare on twitter.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .