Falcon Freight Ltd was established in 2019 as a subsidiary to Falcon Tower Crane Services Ltd to head the haulage functions of the group. Its first port of business, post incorporation, was to facilitate the acquisition of a separate haulage company, based in Dunstable, called TJ Robins Ltd.
TJ Robins Ltd was established in 1919 and ran with a fleet of eight Scania trucks with Fassi and Palfinger cranes ranging from 45TM to 80TM. Included in the acquisition is a 2.1-acre site just off the M1 motorway near Dunstable, Bedfordshire, which makes it perfectly placed for haulage into London, the South West and Midlands.
Falcon Tower Crane Services Ltd, which owned 12 HGV’s of their own, amalgamated the TJ Robins Ltd company and the haulage department within the tower crane division to establish a new entity called Falcon Freight Ltd. This new company will be run as a separate, independent, haulage division of the group.
Originally established in 1974, as a self-erecting tower crane rental company, Falcon Tower Crane Services Ltd, as it is now known, has evolved from a regional tower crane supplier to an internationally recognised brand in tower crane sales and rental. Throughout its long history, the company has specialised in lifting solutions on all types of construction projects and from its headquarters in Shipdham, Norfolk, the company has responded to the increasing demand from UK construction companies to supply high quality, reliable tower cranes.
The 1980’s saw a move away from self-erecting tower cranes to the more conventional saddle and luffing jib tower cranes, resulting in a continued expansion in both fleet size, as well as overseas operations.
During the 1990’s and into the early 2000’s the fleet increased to over 200 tower cranes and incorporated, for a short while, the provision of passenger hoists also. Some 25 years ago, a strategy was established to modernise and standardise the fleet. Its key feature was to predominately use cranes from Spanish manufacturer Jaso, whilst the older machines were gradually sold off through our export division. This, eventually, led to Falcon Tower Cranes Services Ltd becoming the UK representatives for Jaso equipment.
During the financial crisis from 2008, UK hire activity reduced substantially and the company shifted its focus from UK rental to worldwide exports. In doing so, the majority of the staff were able to be retained during this period, which enabled the company to grow substantially during the ensuing recovery. The organisation continued to expand. Across the UK and Europe and now employs over 450 personnel running a fleet of over 400 cranes. More recently the company returned to its roots by developing and then expanding a new dedicated self-erector crane division.
Along with tower cranes, other activities in the company have grown in recent years, such as the development of a dedicated generator power division (150+ units) to satisfy the growing demand for turnkey projects, a transport infrastructure, a shot blast and spray facility for both internal and external operations and a specialist construction training service to provide a variety of construction orientated courses.
The company is proud to be the largest independent tower crane supplier in the UK and one of the largest in the world.
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