The mayor of Bishop's Stortford, Cllr Colin Woodward, cuts the ribbon to open the facility with Rogier van der Linde.

HIAB, the leading provider of on-road load handling equipment, has opened a London sales and service depot in Bishop's Stortford.

As well as acting as a base for its team of mobile service engineers, HIAB's new London depot - the largest within its national UK network - will offer its new and existing customers a permanent presence in the region, which is part of HIAB's strategy to bring its business much closer to those of its customers.

"At a time when customers' operations are at full stretch thanks to a strong economy, we understand their need to keep their equipment operational for the maximum possible time," says Rogier van der Linde, MD of HIAB (UK & IRE) Ltd. "This depot at Bishop's Stortford represents a significant investment that shows our customers our commitment to them. It ensures we have the resources locally to service their needs swiftly and efficiently. We want to be close to them and we want to back them up at every step."

The facility is strategically important within HIAB's UK network, as it covers an area containing one-third of the country's population. As well as London and East Anglia, its operations will extend as far west as Oxford, north to Milton Keynes, and reach down as far as the south coast.

HIAB's new London depot will offer a full range of services, from equipment inspection to preventive maintenance and breakdown support. With a suite of comprehensive service contracts covering its equipment ranging from three years to eight years, HIAB will now have the flexibility to service equipment either at the new depot or - using its fleet of field service technicians based in Bishop's Stortford - at a customer's site or any other convenient location.

HIAB will also keep an inventory of essential spare parts at Bishop's Stortford, offering its customers high-quality genuine HIAB spare parts to help ensure their equipment is working optimally, efficiently and, most importantly, is safe to operate.

"Our decision to invest in this new facility is part of our ongoing strategy to shape and inspire industry with solutions to the challenges of delivering in urban environments," van der Linde adds. "Our customers must keep their equipment on the road to stay competitive, and our job is to maximise the uptime of that equipment and to make sure that the customer is safe to go on the road. We are ambitious to grow our business, and our new London depot will play a very large part in that growth strategy."