The multi-discipline Sirius Group has announced an investment of more than £1.6 million in new plant and equipment this April, to meet demand from a growing number of projects across the UK. Additions to the firm’s 50-strong fleet include five Volvo crawler excavators and three A25G articulated dump trucks.
Sirius has been a Volvo customer for some time, operating a range of the firms excavators and compaction machines. The three A25Gs are the company’s first Volvo ADTs however, as Sirius looks to improve fuel consumption and cut fleet emissions.
“It is our first move into Volvo dump trucks, recognising that Volvo is the premier brand in the ADT market,” said Pat Kane, Group Director at Sirius.
“The overall deal was very attractive and we’ve found that Volvo is ahead on fuel efficiency. The latest E series excavators also offer big fuel savings over the D series.”
“The A25G is a very versatile machine and it is the right size for our job sites,” added Operations and Plant Manager Stuart Kirk.
All of the Volvo machines have been supplied with Customer Service Agreements and Volvo’s Uptime Services proactive monitoring system. This allows the company to monitor fuel consumption, idling time and working mode operation, to maximise productivity and minimise downtime and fuel use.
As well as the three trucks, Sirius is taking an EC220E excavator, two EC250Es, an EC300E and its first EC380E, at 38 tonnes operating weight the company’s heaviest
earthmover to date. Sirius is also set to install Trimble machine control systems on a selection of the excavators for the first time, having proven the benefits of 3D machine control on its sites.
“We already use machine control on all of the dozers on our fleet and we’re always looking as a business to be at the forefront of what is available, in terms of machine technology and engineering,” said Mr Kane.
With a turnover in 2015 of more than £31m, the Sirius Group is enjoying growth in many areas of operation. The company has more than 35 active projects across the UK, in brownfield remediation, demolition, soil stabilisation, geotechnical improvement, earthworks and site infrastructure construction works.
Sirius is also increasingly active as a developer in its own right, following a construct, own and operate model for medium scale wind turbine and large ground-mounted solar PV developments.
“2015 was our most successful year ever as a Group and with our recent contract awards we are well placed to build on this success, expand our services and deliver controlled growth for the year ahead,” said Mr Kane. “Our latest plant investment is a key part of our planning and strategy to help us achieve this.”
The new Volvo dump trucks and excavators will be used exclusively on Sirius Group sites, joining a rapidly expanding fleet of cutting-edge equipment. With a policy of only investing in the highest quality, lowest emission equipment, Sirius will take delivery of the equipment over the coming months.
Volvo Construction Equipment markets wheeled loaders, articulated haulers, hydraulic excavators, Volvo utility equipment and Volvo road equipment products in Great Britain. There are eight strategically placed customer support centres and a network of utility equipment dealers to ensure high quality customer support is maintained throughout the country.
