From the
organisers of
Hillhead logo

Hyundai help Cornish demolition business grow further

Hyundai excavator

Demolition South West invest in Hyundai machines to support future growth strategy 

FOLLOWING the demise of St Austell-based DRS Demolition National in 2015, the region found itself without a dedicated local contractor who was capable of taking on the complicated and skillful work of dismantling buildings in a safe and controlled manner.

However, following a short period in the wilderness, Darren Shrigley, the son of the former owner of DRS, Dave Shrigley, spotted a window of opportunity to put his stamp on an industry that he had grown up around and indeed cut his teeth in as a machine operator.

 

Talking about his new venture Darren Shrigley said: ‘Soon after the closure of my father’s business, I spotted that there was going to be a massive gap in the market down in the South West for a demolition firm and with that in mind I formed Demolition South West [DSW]. 

‘In early 2016 we won a contract to demolish the iconic Ponsmere Hotel in Perranporth, Cornwall. This job gave us a great start and involved the removal of asbestos, internally and externally, the complete soft strip of 80 bedrooms, bars and recreational rooms and the salvage of some 2,000 sq m of timber floorboards.’ 

He continued: ‘Of course to tackle this job I needed machinery, so I got in touch with our friends at Molson Group, Jonathon Wilson and his son Tom, who agreed to hire a 20-tonne Hyundai hydraulic excavator. We used the Hyundai for 5-6 weeks and I really liked the machine so much I decided to purchase it.’

A period of rapid expansion for DSW followed and the company’s mobile equipment fleet is now dominated by the Hyundai brand. The earthmoving machinery includes: several mini-excavator models and a recently delivered demo-spec 40-tonne 380LC-9A machine. 

The latest excavator for DSW has been shot blasted and re-painted, with new side-impact skirts and belly guards fitted. It also features a FOPS cab guard and full ‘fall-from-height’ boxing ring protection. Working alongside a Hyundai 220LC-9A, the 380LC-9A has dismantled heavy-duty concrete structures, which were fed through a Sandvik crusher for reuse as hardcore.   

As well as continuing to bolster their plant and equipment fleet, DSW are also on the lookout for a new material processing facility and Darren Shrigley expects to see more recycling kit being added to the fleet as workload expands.

‘Our business has come a long way in a short period of time; in addition to the plant we are now running a couple of trucks with hook-loaders and around half-a-dozen vans,’ he said. 

‘Now going forward, I feel that our crusher would benefit from having a new wheel loader to work with it and, again, it will potentially be from the Hyundai stable and possibly another 40-tonne class excavator will join the fleet. Indeed, it is an exciting time for the business and I’m looking forward to pushing it on.’ 

 

Latest Jobs