Page 11 - GAP 50th Anniversary Book

Celebrating 50 years of GAP /

Post-war plant hire

in Glasgow

Hewden Plant Hire had been formed in 1962 by
Matthew Goodwin. It joined forces in 1968 with
Ronnie Stuart’s crane hire business, R. G. Stuart,
to become Hewden Stuart just a year before
Gordon Anderson Plant was established.

A collection of plant In addition to home-grown companies, several plant Caterpillar, the internationally renowned
and equipment hire firms founded in other countries
hire companies was made their way to Scotland. plant and machinery manufacturer, opened a
manufacturing plant in the Uddingston area of
(Scottish Land Development) SLD, was a
also founded in private company founded in Glasgow in 1951. Glasgow in 1957. By the late 1960s it was one of
the city’s largest employers, with a 2,700-strong
The business grew successfully and was
Glasgow around the acquired in the 1960s by James Hanson and workforce, while hundreds more worked for
firms who depended on Caterpillar for work. The
Gordon White of Hanson Transport. In 1961, the
same time as Gordon business continued to trade as SLD, specialising manufacturing plant eventually closed in 1987,
after 30 years of business in Glasgow.
in land development, plant hire, drainage,
Anderson Plant, cultivation and excavator work. Today, known Hilti was founded in 1941 by engineer Martin
as SLD Pumps and Power, part of the Carrier
Hilti and his brother Eugen in Schaan,
who developed their Rental Systems, the company remains as a Liechtenstein. In 1971 it opened a development
business to operate large supplier in the construction industry with centre for steelworks equipment in Glasgow, at
a focus on power generation and water pumps.
the start of their international expansion. The
across the UK. Euclid Great Britain was formed in Motherwell centre remains in operation as Hilti’s UK Tool
Repair Centre. Now based in over 120 countries
in 1950 as a subsidiary of The Euclid Crane and
Hoist Company, which had been founded in with more than 27,000 employees, Hilti is one
the US in 1909. In 1968 it became Terex Trucks of GAP’s largest suppliers.
after the Euclid brand was divested. The Volvo Aggreko, formed in the Netherlands in 1962 by
Group acquired the business in 2014, although Luc Koopman, moved over in 1973 and set up
the brand Terex Trucks remains. headquarters in Glasgow.

/ Chapter 01 11