News

Thomas Plant Hire invests in Xwatch kit

Thomas Plant Hire began its journey a quarter of a century ago in 1998 when MD Wyn Thomas founded a contracting business in Holywell in North Wales. The company has since grown into somewhat of a force majeure within the sector, with many subsidiary companies within the Thomas Group – in fact, there are seven other Thomas Plant divisions, and the company has no plans to slow down its future growth.

Thomas Plant Hire boasts more than 3,000 machines within its hire fleet including a wide range of excavators ranging from 1.5-tonne up to 50-tonne, which include market-leading machines from OEMs Hitachi, Caterpillar, Kobelco, Komatsu and Liebherr. Also, the company owns a very impressive fleet of 72 dozers with another 20 on order. 

Ian McMillan, Head of business development at the Thomas Group reported that the company had invested in the region of £50m in new plant and machinery during 2022 and is planning to invest a similar figure during 2023. The company is also a big investor in ‘machine technology’ with its OnGrade Machine Control division, which offers training, sales and hire for Intelligent GPS Machine Control systems, which include Leica, Topcon and Trimble.

Thomas Plant is also a big advocate of safety and the company has around 65 Xwatch systems installed on a variety of excavators, with lots more on order as it future-proofs its fleet. The systems have been installed by Xwatch partner Gareth James owner of GJ Plant and Auto Electrics and Xwatch’s, sister company Fitzgerald Plant Services, based in Cwmbran, Wales. In the last two weeks alone, Gareth has installed 13 Xwatch systems on behalf of Thomas Plant. 

Ian McMillan said, “We chose the Xwatch systems as they have Network Rail approval, which is a very valuable endorsement for the products and allows us to operate on Network Rail projects. The backup and service we receive from both Gareth James and Fitzgerald Plant Services are second to none. When working with tier one contractors they mandate that an engineer is on-site within a maximum of four hours of an issue, with Gareth, Fitzgerald Plant Services and the Xwatch, support team this service is guaranteed, although we have next to no issues with the Xwatch systems.” 

Got a news story? Email news@earthmoversmagazine.co.uk.