Lots of negativity on Briggs here.
There have been a lot of changes in Briggs in the last two years alone, and i would agree some of the characters i met over three years ago weren't up to the task, too many people involved (and i'm looking at this from a customer / buyer perspective)
Which is a shame really, a lot of Briggs sales guys i've met in the last 12 months have been pretty decent blokes, i even met Mr.Close himself once, and i saw commitment support the Yale Hyster brands here in the UK and i can say they work pretty hard in trying to get sales.
Sales guys do not always have an easy time, some of the sales guys i've dealt with not just from Briggs but other suppliers are under tremendous pressure and you can see why there is a high turnover rate, i'd say don't criticise before you've had a go yourself, they all have targets to achieve or there will be engineers going up the road and whether you like sales people or not, good ones are worth their weight in gold and deserve the rewards, as they are only as good as their last sale.
They are no different to any of the players in the UK market, Linde, Crown, Junghenirich, they all have their problems.
One thing i found with the Yale Hyster product is that it is an excellent product and robust and the service side is probably the best out there in the UK, they are certainly people who go the extra mile, i know that they have the engineers interests at heart, it might not be easy to spot, but some of the things i've seen is enough to convince me. Equipment is a little on the expensive side compared to Linde for example, and trying to get that past the finance director is a bit of an ask.
I'd say in another 12/24 months Briggs will be in a better position, to restructure their cost to make their kit more competitive, just have to keep the faith and plough on.