Econ ready to play key role as Ripon-made gritters prepare to keep Britain moving as icy blast moves in

Hundreds of Econ-built gritters, snowploughs and de-icers will be called upon over the coming days, with forecasters predicting significant snowfall across areas of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.

With an 85 per cent share of the market, Econ prides itself in providing the vehicles and machinery needed to keep our nation’s roads open and our streets safe.

Whether sold or leased to councils and contractors, the Econ vehicle stands for British manufacturing excellence and durability.

And with the Met Office predicting a lengthy spell of wintry conditions, managing director Jonathan Lupton, is more than confident their vehicles up and down the country will stand up to the task.

He said: “This is what our vehicles are made for, where the hard work and the quality of our workforce comes to the fore.

“Whether it is an Econ gritter, snowplough or de-icer, we know that every aspect of the design, creation of parts and assembly has been carefully managed and expertly carried out.

“Our clients up and down the UK will be gritting, clearing and de-icing this week, knowing that every Econ vehicle which leaves our Ripon plant, does so with quality and performance assured.

“It is crucial for Britain’s road system to be fully operational, both for the economy and for regular everyday life, and we are very proud of the role in which we, and our vehicles, play in keeping our nation moving.”

Econ has been manufacturing winter and road maintenance vehicles at its Ripon factory in North Yorkshire since 1969 and last year alone its trucks gritted 247,800 miles of UK roads.

But it is not only the quality of the specialist winter vehicles that will be on display this winter, with Econ’s dedicated team of engineers also preparing to go that extra mile to keep the nation’s roads safe.

Employing 250 staff at five locations around the country - including four service depots in Thirsk, Cardiff, Alloa and Halesworth - Econ’s highly-skilled engineers not only manufacture 100 per cent of their own parts in the Ripon factory, but also provide round-the-clock maintenance support once the vehicles are operational.

Mr Lupton added: “Econ is an example of British manufacturing at its very best – from the engineers in the factory who build all our required parts from scratch, to the highly-skilled mobile team of specialists who work 24/7 on maintaining the gritters and ploughs up and down the country’s roads network.

“They are the unsung heroes of the Econ operation, keeping the fleet maintained and operational so that our vehicles can carry out the tasks they were designed for, even the harshest of winter conditions.”