Linde has opened a dedicated used forklift refurbishment centre at its Bristol operations site. The new facility will service the Southern England and South Wales area.

Mark Sullivan, head of used and rental at Linde UK's head office in Basingstoke says there is a growing trend of Linde's customers investing in mixed fleets of new and used forklifts to maximise their return on investment as they face pressure to streamline and cut costs.

"Linde-approved used equipment offers an excellent, cost-effective alternative to brand new," Sullivan says. "It is the risk-free way to acquire reliable, high-performance equipment backed by the leading UK brand."

Linde says it only refurbishes trucks that have been fully serviced from new by its national network to the manufacturer's recommendations. The forklifts come with individual service histories and only genuine Linde parts are fitted during the refurbishment process. A LOLER/PUWER certificate is provided with every truck and the equipment is fully warranted.

There are different grades of Linde-approved trucks to suit individual budgets and application requirements. Local service engineers from Linde's national network offer comprehensive after-sales support for the refurbished trucks.

Separately, Linde Material Handling has launched a new range of 10 to 18 tonne heavy forklifts to replace the existing H100-H180 series. The launch of the new models of the largest hydrostatic drive machine in Linde's product range, which was introduced in 2006, coincides with the introduction of Level IIIB/Tier 4 interim emission standards, which came into force on 1 January.