Difficult to know why you lost a major account. One could argue that with the closure of Linde's Basingstoke manufacturing plant most spares will have to come in from abroad which could cause delays during downtime, but then Jungheinrich and Mitsubishi do not produce in the UK either and they don't seem to have much trouble with spares, etc. I do believe that Linde hurried the formation of its contract management department, which ran out of control, leading to heavy losses and staff defections.

As to what is happening next, it was only in the last few weeks that Linde reported that it was increasing its UK market share. Others, including Jungheinrich, expect some job losses this year so it is likely that the entire industry will have lean times for this year and next, not just Linde. Those remaining in the Linde servicing department may have to take pay cuts because for years they have paid well above the industry average.