By Ian McConnell

Business Editor

Scottish company MV Commercial has made the largest acquisition in its 20-year history, buying Lincolnshire tipping-trailer and truck-body manufacturer Fruehauf out of administration in a multi-million-pound transaction which will save 120 jobs.

Airdrie-based truck specialist MV Commercial said the deal, which includes an immediate cash injection and a commitment to a further £30 million investment over the next three years, would ensure “a strong future for one of the best-known trailer manufacturers in the UK”.

MV Commercial declared the investment is “part of ambitious plans to modernise the manufacturing facility and realise the full potential of the 67-acre site in Grantham, Lincolnshire”.

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Tom O’Rourke, chief executive of MV Commercial, said: “This is a hugely significant day for both businesses, and quite simply an opportunity we couldn’t turn down. Fruehauf has a fantastic product range, a rich heritage, and a wealth of talent which will be complemented by our own strength and experience in the marketplace.”

He added: “With immediate effect, we are starting work to scale production back up, enabling us to commit to a delivery schedule for outstanding customer orders and begin building new stock trailers for MV’s own contract-hire and ready-to-go fleets.”

Steven Cairns, managing director of MV Commercial, said the firm would be retaining "100 per cent" of the workforce of the Fruehauf operation, with production capacity within the factory expected to reach between 15 and 20 trailers per week swiftly under the Scottish company’s stewardship.

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He added there were plans for the Fruehauf workforce – many of whom had been furloughed in recent months – to “return to their jobs swiftly”.

Mr Cairns added: “We are so excited for the potential this acquisition brings and committed to investing in a bright future for Fruehauf. It also further strengthens MV Commercial’s end-to-end solution for rental and sales, giving us a fantastic new super-site in a strategically key part of the country. We should have 80 to 90 trucks and trailers available for sale in Grantham within a month, and the manufacturing workforce back in the factory building at pace again.”

MV Commercial said it plans to open a truck sales and rental facility on site in Grantham within the next month, alongside the manufacturing operation.

It added that work to refurbish the site would “begin within days”.

The Airdrie company said it also hopes to “revive the legendary ‘Crane Fruehauf’ name”, by which the business was known until around 1998, adding that this rebranding was expected to be completed in coming weeks.

MV Commercial currently employs 190 staff spread across five sites – its largest in Airdrie – having previously made several other acquisitions as well as achieving organic growth.

The company, which has previously acquired the assets of rental businesses Regal Truck Rental and TLS and in 2015 bought body-builder JWR Recovery Trucks, was named as one of the London Stock Exchange Group’s “1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain” in November 2020.