The groundworks and civil engineering contractor was so impressed with a trial of a Sunward compact excavator it went on to buy ten of them.

The Bellshill-based company, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, ended up purchasing nine Sunward SWE 90UFs, which are the shortest nine-tonne short-tail excavators available on the market (by almost 20cm), and a zero-tail six-tonne SWE 60UF from Ayrshire-based plant hire and sales specialists Kattrak International.

The machines are being used across 200 active sites, mostly for housebuilding clients such as Persimmon, Barratt and Grant Homes, and for such main contractors as Balfour Beatty.

ACS plant manager Gareth Mollan explained the company typically retires its fleet after three to four years and had needed to replace 17 machines from one particular manufacturer. But due to a shortage, it decided to trial other companies and the Sunward machines proved to be very competitive both in terms of performance and price.

He said: “The Sunward machines provided better value for money, and although they have only been used on site for a few weeks, all the reports back are extremely positive, so it’s highly likely that our first order of Sunward machines will not be our last.”

Kattrak director Gareth McLaughlin added: “The Sunward machines are proving to be a very popular choice with our customers and Kattrak prides itself in providing a good product backed up with excellent service. We have been supplying machines to Advance Construction Scotland for several years now and it’s always a pleasure dealing with Seamus and Gareth. We look forward to many more years of working together.”