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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

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