So, what can we look forward to in 2024? According to the media it’s all doom and gloom but there again, the old adage of bad news sells is the watchword when it comes to them fine fellows.

If 2023 was anything to go at PES I don’t think we have that much to worry about. Yes, machine sales of Volvo excavators, Thwaites dumpers, Epiroc hydraulic hammers were down compared to 2022 but 2022 was a strange year and I honestly think we were on catch-up and had a post-covid spend up as it was our busiest machinery sales year ever. The latter part of 2023 saw a dramatic slowdown of Winget mixer and Thwaites dumper sales, a sure sign of uncertainty in the construction industry as these are the first two machine types that suffer as customers keep ‘their old machines going’ so they don’t have to outlay unnecessary capital. Of course, you can’t do that with an excavator as once it’s ‘tired’ you can’t give it a five-gallon refit and pretend its hunky -dory and send it back to site.

As the largest supplier of dumper parts for Thwaites, Terex, Terex/JCB and Barford site dumpers in the UK, PES had a good year on parts sales and the turnover was marginally up on last year which was a really busy year. This, I believe, was helped by the fact that customers were repairing not replacing as outlined above and also the complete and utter shambles at Mecalac when they moved their stores 500 yards down the road. PES had a sneaky feeling it was all going to go terribly wrong and stocked up on parts beforehand so ended up supplying a lot of the Mecalac dealer network with parts as well.

The fact that customers were still buying parts is an indication that sites were still busy as nobody buys parts to stick on a shelf these days, they want them next day as they have a breakdown which is why with over £1 million worth of Thwaites, Terex, Terex/JCB and Barford spare son the shelf ready for next day delivery PES is the preferred supplier of dumper parts in the UK.

So, what is going to happen in 2024? After consulting the PES crystal- ball I reckon it’s going to be alright. Interest rates are coming down which will install a bit of confidence and if you look at the new homes built in the Q1 and Q2 of 2023 it was only 2% down on the corresponding period in 2022. House prices have fallen which hopefully will stimulate the market as all rungs on the property ladder need to be buoyant for it to work. We still have a housing shortage so we need to build houses and around Devon I haven’t seen new estates being made watertight and then closed before the houses have been completed which is a good sign. Whether this is mirrored across the rest of the UK I don’t know but my mate Howard is a bricklayer and he has more work than he can shake a stick at and the rates haven’t come down that much so he’s still smiling.

So, to summarise……. don’t panic. If we have a downturn, it normally means all the muppets disappear for a bit as they only got work because everybody was desperate. PES will still be here whatever happens supplying Thwaites, Terex, Terex/JCB and Barford dumper parts and Volvo excavators, Thwaites dumpers, Epiroc hydraulic attachments and Winget mixers to our customers around the UK.

As quick as Winget mixers sales are the first to decline in a slowdown they are the first to pick up when we come out the other side so as soon as that happens, we know we’ll be all right as an industry. I’ll let you know when that happens………………