ABOUT POWERFAB

Back around the time when punk rock was on its way out and Margaret Thatcher was on her way in, a lot of digging on building sites was still done by hand, excavators were quite expensive and too big to fit through a standard doorway.

David John who ran a family engineering firm in Wales recognised the potential and reckoned that if you could make a really small and very portable digger at the right price, small builders would que up to buy them.

John who had worked as a designer with plant manufacturer Hymac designed a machine that was both very compact and mounted on wheels, which was not only cheap but also allowed the machine to be towed behind a pick up or even a family car without the need for a trailer.

In 1981 together with his three brothers John launched a business which he called Powerfab to make and distribute these machines.

And John was right the concept took off not just in the UK but around the world. Selling machines to diverse markets from banana plantations to nuclear power plants the firm grew and in its heyday employed 50 people before being sold and discontinued in 2005.And now-phoenix like-Powerfab is back.

The Powerfab name suddenly moribund became available and David John’s son Nathan decided to re-register it and revive the brand. With new fire in the dragons belly in the form of innovations and investment Nathan John has made and distributed excavators and loaders in the UK, Europe and the USA.