Plant hirer Waitings is tickled pink with its newest heavyweight JCB machine – literally.
The latest 22-tonne excavator to join the family firm’s fleet doesn’t come in traditional JCB yellow but in pink – in tribute to a much-loved member of the founding family.
And each time the machine digs a clump of earth it will be raising money for a number of charities close to the family company’s heart.
The pink machine – a JCB 220X tracked excavator – has been given the stunning paint job in memory of Victoria Waiting, who died aged 44 of a brain tumour in 2016.
Now Victoria’s brother Robert and fellow director Adrian Ash, who run the Cumbria-based drainage, civil engineering, pipeline and plant hire firm, have decided that each time the machine is hired, a percentage of the revenue will be donated to charity, including local Cumbrian hospices and Brain Tumour Research. The new model follows in the tracks of another pink JCB excavator bought in 2015
Adrian Ash said: “Our existing pink JCB has been fantastic in terms of productivity and in the awareness it raised. It delivered an excellent return not only for the business but also the chosen charities. It is poignant that soon after it had been introduced, we lost Victoria to the very disease we were raising money fund research into.
“That is why we are so keen to continue with the pink theme and raise vital funds for those cancer-related charities which are so close to our hearts.
“We would like to thank JCB and Scot JCB again for their hard work and support in commissioning this machine – it is testament to the factory’s flexibility. Their willingness to engage in such a special project is hugely appreciated.”
Victoria lived in Cliburn – the Cumbrian village where Waitings is based – all of her life and she was a much-loved part of the company and community. Mother to son James and daughter Alex, Victoria was also passionate about horses and a highly successful eventer. The original pink JCB machine – which has helped Waitings raise over £100,000 for charity over the years – will soon be auctioned off with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.
Waitings was founded in 1970 and specialises in nationwide utilities installations – be it water, sewers, gas or cables – for both the public and private sectors. Additional services include civil engineering, groundworks, plant hire, servicing and refurbishment.
Waitings has also delivered a vast number of drainage projects in the agricultural, land reclamation, sporting, civil and environmental fields. Its specialist plant hire business offers long reach excavators, pontoons, tank bridges, work boats, safety boats and pile driving equipment all available to hire across the UK for work on flood defence and coastal defence projects.
