Skip to main content

Hill & Smith gears up for buyers’ market

More than five years of recession has left the European roads sector a “buyers’ market” and only those companies able to compete on price will be able to address it, Miles Boyd, commercial manager of Hill & Smith said at Intertraffic. “I think the challenge going forward is to address this buyers’ market,” said Boyd. “The state of the economy tightened the belt of most local authorities. At Hill & Smith we have been value-engineering our products to ensure that we can offer cost-effective products that we
March 25, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The bigger picture: Hill & Smith’s commercial manager Miles Boyd
More than five years of recession has left the European roads sector a “buyers’ market” and only those companies able to compete on price will be able to address it, Miles Boyd, commercial manager of 60 Hill & Smith said at Intertraffic.

“I think the challenge going forward is to address this buyers’ market,” said Boyd. “The state of the economy tightened the belt of most local authorities. At Hill & Smith we have been value-engineering our products to ensure that we can offer cost-effective products that we bring to the market.

“The result is very high-value products with a very competitive cost base.”

The company, which made a number of acquisitions including ATA of Sweden, now offers a complete portfolio of technically-advanced vehicle restraint systems.

To complement the firm’s higher profile, it has doubled the size of its stand at this edition of Intertraffic. The result is a striking double-decker stand.

“This time we decided to look at our marketing plan slightly differently,” said Boyd. “We felt that the Hill & Smith roads collection of business units and we need to shout a little bit more about what we are doing in the industry.

“The European market is where we see growth in the business and Intertraffic is the premier expo for Europe and so we needed a larger-than-life presence.”

Boyd added that Intertraffic was also an occasion for executives from the different Hill & Smith divisions to get together.
www.hill-smith.co.uk

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Telvent relocates and takes a global stance on ITS
    March 12, 2012
    Telvent's Manuel Sanchez Ortega, on relocating the company's headquarters to the US and how that fits in the international scheme of things. The change-of-address cards are in the post; Manuel Sanchez Ortega has just moved homes. The domestic upheaval of Telvent's Chairman and Chief Executive comes as a result of the decision to relocate many of the company's headquarter functions from Madrid to Rockville, Maryland in the US. Viewed in the context of its significant recent acquisitions in North America - am
  • Citilog shows new version of XCam-p sensor
    September 10, 2014
    Citilog is introducing a North American-compliant version of its XCam-p video detection sensor. The new version of XCam-p – the ‘p’ stands for presence detection – follows an agreement with Signal Group, the parent company of Peek Traffic. Peek manufactures the cabinet interface unit for the system. Citilog’s previous version of XCam-p is used internationally but does not conform to US standards. “We’ve always made the camera head sensor but until this collaboration we didn’t have an interface board t
  • Janschitz’s X-Cone makes cone deployment quicker
    March 24, 2014
    A new generation traffic cone management system is being shown at Intertraffic on the Janschitz Traffic Services stand. The fully-automatic X-Cone allows a single worker to set out and collect cones (even if the cone is out of position or laying down) and is unaffected by weather or temperature.
  • Xerox Licence Plate Recognition (XLPR) technology on show
    October 22, 2012
    Xerox is playing a leading part in the ITS World Congress this week through its presence in two executive, six special interest, and one technical session, as well as the company’s sponsorship of the VIP room. The company says it is using the event to underline its status as a global leader in business process and information technology services and the largest provider of mobility solutions to governments worldwide. As Xerox points out, for over 40 years it has worked together with transportation clients i