The deal for 60 Cat 302.5C, 30 Cat 305D mini excavators comes on the back of significant growth for Finning in the sale of Caterpillar mini excavators.

Douglas Anderson of GAP Group Plant and Tool Hire said, “As a business we have traditionally purchased this type of equipment from other manufacturers.

“However it is credit to Finning that even with this history, they have continued to make new equipment available to us to test and benchmark against our current fleet.”

“So when we were looking at renewing some of our mini excavator range we looked at the Cat 302.5C and Cat 305D mini excavator units and assessed their capabilities against our rigorous criteria.

“Key to the selection of the units was of course purchasing cost, but also operating cost and performance capability played an important role.”

“In plant hire we are dealing with an extremely competitive environment at the moment, so making sure our equipment is capable of withstanding the harsh environments and the operator techniques of numerous customers is what makes us stand out from the rest.”

Finning key account manager, Alistair Murdoch said: “GAP are a major player in the plant hire market and have been a target customer for Finning for a considerable time.

“Having first sold just 6 machines to the business a few years ago, this deal represents a complete shift in the purchasing decisions from the team at GAP.

“Its customers will now have the choice of using Caterpillar equipment for the first time on a large scale.”