Page 33 - Commercial Vehicle Engineer - October 2019

PEOPLE
Beevor was an animal lover, a constant joker and a private man for whom family meant everything. It was recalled at his funeral how he once surprised Road Tech staff by abruptly cancelling all his scheduled of ce meetings for the day. “Tell them I have an urgent meeting with Billy at 3pm” was the instruction. In fact, he was caring for a sick kitten called, you’ve guessed it, Billy.
His sense of humour was undiminished by a ve-year battle against two types of cancer. Shortly before his death, after many months of being forced to stay away from the business he loved, Derek, a devout atheist, remarked pithily: “Thank God for Trump and Brexit. I’d have been bored rigid without them.”
On another occasion he told doctors: “If I thought being miserable would make this any better, I’d try it.”
In 2015, nally forced to step back from day-to-day management of
the business he had proudly headed
for 30 years, Beevor quipped that
his new approach was called pigeon management: “I y in, shit on someone’s desk, and y out.”
It is surely telling that of the 70-pus Road Tech employees, few if any have been with the company for less than 15 years. “The buggers just won’t leave,” he once joked.
Beevor’s insight into a rapidly changing UK transport industry was frequently sought by journalists like me. “Get big, get specialised, or get out,” was one of his favourite pieces of advice.
A highly valued questioner of received wisdom has been lost. So too has a
true innovator. Three years ago, Derek Beevor was best man at my wedding. I will never forget his honest guidance, frank friendship and generosity.
Derek Beevor leaves a wife, a grown- up family, and a multitude of friends, professional and private.
Danny Coughlan, former editor of Truck, Truck & Driver,
and Helicopter World.
Nigel Butler
Former Renault Trucks UK commercial director Nigel Butler has started a new job
as managing director at Weightlifter Bodies, one of the UK’s best-known and long-established manufacturers of tipper bodies and trailers.
Weightlifter Bodies, based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, was founded in the 1930s. PPG Fabrications, based in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, has been part of the group since 1998. After 27 years as owner and group managing director, Paul Weightman retired
last month after selling the business
to Grange Cross, a recently formed company set up by Paul Simpson, owner and managing director of Hull-based Thompson Commercials Group. Butler is the second Grange Cross shareholder.
Thompson Commercials is the UK’s biggest privately-owned Renault Trucks dealer group with seven sites in eastern England, some of which also sell Isuzu trucks. The group has about 170 employees and includes a rental and contract hire operation called Premium Leasing.
Butler had been Renault Trucks UK commercial director for more than 11 years before his surprise resignation last October following a major top management reorganisation at Volvo Group.
He chaired the commercial vehicle section of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) between 2016 and 2018 and made
it clear when he left Renault Trucks that he was keen to nd “a completely fresh challenge” (Commercial Vehicle Engineer, November 2018).
His extensive commercial vehicle business experience includes jobs as a Foden Trucks regional sales manager in the 1990s, followed by nearly ve years as a key account manager at ERF, and six years working in sales at the nance division of Paccar, DAF Trucks’ parent group. He joined Renault Trucks UK as commercial director in July 2007.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Weightlifter and PPG teams,” says Butler. “Paul Weightman, with his directors, has done a fantastic job to consistently be a leading and well- respected supplier of truck tipping products. The construction, agriculture and recycling markets are dynamic and growing, bringing lots of opportunities to develop Weightlifter and PPG. With these directors, I
look forward to providing a secure future to our 87 staff at our two manufacturing sites by continuing to develop innovative solutions for our customers that add real value to their operations.”
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ENGINEER > OCTOBER 2019 33