A new Breed.

April 22, 2020

Breedon, a leading construction materials group in Great Britain and Ireland, has just taken delivery of new Terex Finlay crushers and screeners and washing equipment from Glasgow-based Finlay Scotland.

The machines, delivered throughout Q1 of 2019, have been deployed to sites across Breedon’s Northern region, increasing production and generating greater working efficiencies thanks to the cutting-edge technology available in the Terex Finlay machines manufactured in Omagh & Dungannon, Northern Ireland.

Breedon are highly regarded in the industry, with fast-paced growth over the last decade propelling them to become a key supplier of construction materials and contracting services to many companies throughout Great Britain and Ireland. This growth has come from strong organic performance combined with strategic and bolt-on acquisitions. Recent notable purchases include Hope Construction Materials in 2016 and the £455m acquisition of Lagan Group, a materials supplier based in Ireland, in 2018.

Breedon Group currently operates more than 80 quarries in Great Britain and Ireland and also features a diverse portfolio including two cement plants, 40 asphalt plants, around 170 ready-mixed concrete plants, nine concrete and clay products plants, four contract surfacing businesses, six import/export terminals and two slate production facilities, with nearly 900 million tonnes of mineral reserves and resources at its disposal.

The new Terex Finlay screeners and crushers are the latest additions in a long line of Terex Finlay equipment supplied by Finlay Scotland to the Northern region of the Breedon Group over many years. This order includes a real spread of products, from J-1480’s – the largest jaw crusher in the Terex Finlay range – through C-1550 cone crushers, 694+ Washing & Dry along with the 693+ 683 inclined screeners and the 883+ scalping heavy duty screeners and TC-80 tracked conveyors.

Alan Mackenzie – Managing Director, Breedon Northern, said, “We have built a long-standing relationship with the team at Finlay Scotland, as they have been an excellent supplier for us over the years. They have always provided us with a high-quality range of products and been there to back them up when needed.

“The nature of our business creates an extremely demanding environment for all our machinery, none more so than the production equipment such as crushers and screeners. But I feel that the Finlay Scotland team are working with us to help us achieve our goals, something any business needs from their supplier base to become truly successful.”

These latest machines all include the Terex Finlay T-Link telematics system, allowing the team at Breedon to remotely access each machine and monitor both live and historic performance data. This allows the team to analyse the performance of each machine, so they can identify potential improvements, calculate wear rates and keep on top of how their cost of production is tracking – all essential knowledge in an industry where costs are increasing and protection of margins is a priority.

Alan went on to say, “The Terex Finlay products have always served us very well. From a business point of view, we have to evaluate many angles when looking at purchasing new machinery. The initial cost is certainly a factor, but I would argue that it is not the be-all and end-all. We also look at production capacity, versatility, reliability, whole-life cost of ownership, level of after-sales service from the dealer and finally the residual value.

“Terex Finlay machines have always offered great all-round performance. We have a team on the ground that has bought into the brand, thanks to the service and support provided over the years, not only by Finlay Scotland, but the guys at the Terex Finlay factory too.”

The Terex Finlay J-1480 stands as the largest jaw crusher in the extensive Finlay range, weighing in at a colossal 76,000Kg when fitted with the optional by-pass conveyor and magnet options. It is fitted with a single toggle jaw which boasts a throughput capacity of up to 750 tonnes per hour depending on application and material – making this is the primary jaw crusher of choice for many large quarrying applications.

Tom McNeil – Finlay Scotland Managing Director, said, “We know what the customer is looking for – if a plant is down, they need it fixed there and then and this is what we aim for with all our customers. Breedon are a forward-thinking company that have a keen interest in any new developments in technology that could help them improve their ways of working – something we are always investigating both with our manufacturer partners and in the wider market.”

Finlay Scotland were themselves recently acquired by Molson Group in March 2019, in a deal that when paired with the acquisition of Finlay Group in June 2018, completed the distribution rights for Terex Finlay equipment across Great Britain for Molson.

Tom went on to say; “Following the acquisition by Molson Group, Finlay Scotland remains the same dynamic business that it has always been, but thanks to the influence of Molson Group, and particularly Molson Finlay, we have access to a much greater amount of new machine stock, spare parts and technical expertise and network locations. I believe this puts us in much stronger position to not only offer customers new machines at shorter notice, but also to help us keep their machines running much more cost effectively.

“With the scale of the product range within the Molson Group, we are also now able to offer our customers a much wider range of equipment than ever before. With other great brands such as Kobelco excavators, Terex Ecotec shredders and trommels, Sennebogen material handlers and a huge range of hydraulic attachments to name but a few, we really think we can offer customers like Breedon a 360-degree solution moving forward.”