29.05.2018

Bob Floyd 1946 - 2018

We have received the sad news that Bob Floyd, the former general manager of UK crane rental company King Lifting has died. He passed away on Tuesday 22nd May, following a five year battle with cancer. He was just four days off his 72nd birthday.

Floyd spent his entire career in the UK crane rental industry having joined the Taunton depot of British Crane Hire Corporation (BCHC) from the Merchant Navy. He was soon promoted to manager of the company’s Southampton depot and then following the collapse of BCHC, he was recruited by Bath based G W. Sparrow & Sons Crane Hire - Sparrows Crane hire, becoming London regional manager, a post he held for several years before moving back to the company’s headquarters as a director.

After the company was acquired by BET and merged with Grayston-White to create Grayson-White & Sparrow - GWS, he left to set up his own crawler crane company - Capital Crane Hire – later expanding into mobile cranes. The 1990 recession caused the company to close, and he moved to Derby to run Baldwin’s crawler crane fleet. When his wife Carol became ill they decided to move back to the south west and he landed the job with King Lifting, from which he retired in May 2013.
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Bob Floyd

He was a well known and widely respected businessman and will be missed by a good many in the industry.

His funeral is scheduled for Friday 8th June at 13.30 at Taunton Crematorium, followed by a celebration of his life at the Taunton Rugby Club.
Taunton RFC
Commsplus Stadium
Hyde Lane
Taunton
TA2 8BU

(It was previously planned for the Castle Hotel - but the number planning to attend is such that a larger venue will be required)

The family has requested no flowers but that any donations go to St Margret’s Hospice Taunton as "they were fundamental in making Bob’s last days so comfortable and peaceful."
www.somerset-hospice.org.uk/
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