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

Related Content

  • March 24, 2014
    Measurement Specialities’ Roadtrax BL sensor keeps rolling
    In an industry that prides itself on continual innovation, Measurement Specialities is at Intertraffic quietly celebrating 25 years of its hugely successful Roadtrax BL piezoelectric axle sensor. Installed in 65 countries across six continents, the sensor continues to enjoy sales growth of nearly 10% a year and the firm’s team see no reason why the product won’t have another 25 years life in it. “While our main markets are countries in the developed world, we are seeing a lot of applications in the devel
  • April 16, 2013
    A sharper message from Daktronics
    Daktronics comes to the ITS America Annual Meeting with an offer to help agencies ‘Sharpen the Image’ of their dynamic messages signs with the introduction of its new 20mm full-colour Vanguard product line. As the company points out, the dissemination of critical information to drivers is a leading priority for transportation agencies across the United States. Enabling this effort is the recent evolution of NTCIP and MUTCD standards encouraging the use of colour and legible graphics. These efforts allow age
  • September 10, 2014
    Delphi asks college students to envision the Vehicle of the Future
    At the ITS World Congress, Delphi asked college students to envision the vehicle of the future, and they got some surprising results from the young minds of America. Delphi worked with Square One Education Network – the organisation collaborating with ITS America for the Youth Connections Showcase – to bring the students to the Delphi booth on Monday
  • October 22, 2012
    The Institute of Engineering and Technology discusses future UK rollout of Low Carbon Vehicles
    Delegates to the ITS World Congress will have a superb opportunity of getting to know the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Europe’s largest professional society of engineers and technicians with over 150,000 members in 127 countries around the world. The organisation is holding a drinks reception on Wednesday from 16.30 on Stand D71 (the ITS UK stand) during which delegates will be able to find out about the latest developments from the IET Transport Sector that provides a focal point to acc