Stock Sweepers has grown from humble beginnings into one of the market leading road sweeping manufacturers in the UK and it’s the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of Managing Director Jeff Stock that has made it happen.
Sweepers were not the starting point in business for Jeff. He began his career as an owner driver of a JCB 3CX in Wrotham, Kent, working hard in the construction industry and it was whilst building crash barriers on the M20 that Jeff came into contact with the road sweepers. They came along after building work was completed to clear the carriageways, and it was seeing this that sparked his interest and resulted in a little more digging around into the world of sweepers.
Following some advice from a fellow contractor, Jeff decided there was an opportunity to be had and alongside his business partner, bought his first road sweeper.
“We had never had a road sweeper before” said Jeff “We didn’t even know how to put the brushes down”. But the problem was soon solved when the retired father of a friend offered to drive the sweeper for them if they found the work. And that’s how it went.
The fleet was added to over the years with vehicles being purchased second hand and refurbished and that heavy machinery knowledge and experience from previous years came in useful during this time. Eventually a further 11 vehicles were added to the fleet and Stocks Sweeper Hire was born. Once bought and reconditioned, the sweepers were hired out to local authorities and private sector companies.
It was this experience that has directly led to where Stock sweepers are now” said Jeff. “Doing all that maintenance, stripping the vehicles down, remounting them; it taught us everything we know about how sweepers are built, how they work and more importantly why they stop working.”
He goes on to say that things go beyond even that. Doing all that work also allowed them to see how the vehicles could be built better, how the maintenance could be made easier and how they could be engineered from the start to make them more efficient and robust with a longer life span.
Taking this information into account, the hire side of the business was sold and the business focused its efforts into refurbishing, refitting and supplying sweepers nationwide, eventually becoming one of the UK’s top companies for reconditioning used road sweeper equipment. However, after ten years, Jeff and the team became tired of accounting for the weaknesses in existing machines. Using all their experience to date they began to develop their own parts which were lasting longer than others available on the market. The parts side of the business soon grew and became a major focus turning over more than £100,000 per month.
The development of the business did not stop there. With their extensive knowledge of refurbishing and operating sweepers manufacturing sweepers was the next logical step.
“We were fully refurbishing and remounting vehicles and using our own in-house engineered parts – if you considered the whole machine, we were actually producing a high percentage of it ourselves,” said Jeff. “All we had to do now was engineer our own body shell and we could produce a 100% new machine, fully designed, engineered and manufactured by stock sweepers.”
In 2009, following a little reorganisation within the business the company launched their S6400 and S8400 models. Since then, Stock Sweepers has grown into one of the leading road sweeper manufacturers in the UK and are the only British, family owned manufacturer in the industry.
Their vehicles are reliable, robust and innovative and their mission is to build the best sweepers possible. A ‘build it tough’ philosophy underpins the Stock sweepers design, meaning their customers, whether they be in the construction, municipal or civil engineering industries are guaranteed long lasting solutions to their requirements. Stock Sweepers have a huge commitment to provide excellent customer service and product quality and as a result they have an excellent reputation in the marketplace.
“We work tirelessly to uphold our high personal and professional standards – early mornings and late nights are all part of our commitment to going the extra mile for our customers” said Jeff. With the majority of their equipment built on DAF Truck chassis supplied from Watts Truck & Van Newport, Stock Sweepers are able to call upon further support from the Watts team and the collaborative effort of the DAF Trucks dealer network when required.
Stock Sweepers are based in the village of Mitcheldean and have two manufacturing facilities. Their sweepers are available in many different countries in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Stock Sweepers remain true to their vision, which is building quality machines that have the longest working life achievable and minimum down time for their customers.
Stock Sweepers are not concerned about being known for selling the most number of sweepers – they pride themselves on providing the best sweepers possible and are known for building quality machines with a long working life.
For more information about their products visit the Stock Sweepers website
