29.01.2008

Niftylift expands in S.Africa

Niftylift South Africa has reached an agreement with Canadian manufacturer Skyjack, to distribute its scissor lifts and booms in Southern Africa. Skyjack was previously distributed by Ingersoll Rand South Africa.
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Nifty South Africa's new premises

The move comes following Niftylift’s relocation to larger premises in Durbanville, a suburb of Capetown. The company was formed four years ago as a partnership between Mark Smith, director and general manager, Tim Ward, national sales manager for Nifty UK, and John King director of Nifty Australia.

Smith, a South African citizen, returned to Capetown to set up Niftylift SA following a period working in Europe, initially as an engineer in Amsterdam, then joining the UK access rental industry, initially for David Meeks and then AFI.

“The new location near Durbanville will enable us to carry more stock and a greater range of spare parts” said Smith.
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Skyjack's Skydeck logo for South Africa

The first Skyjack lifts, branded as Skydeck in South Africa, have now arrived in Niftylifts inventory with a number of them having already been sold.

Vertikal Comment

This is a good practical move for both companies as there is currently no overlap between the two product lines, giving Niftylift South Africa a full range, of scissor lifts and an increasing range of straight booms to add to the Nifty range of articulated booms, trailer lifts and tracked machines.

Skyjack gains from a dedicated powered access sales company with experienced staff, strong contacts within the market and a complimentary product range, allowing the local salesmen to offer local rental companies and end users a full product palette.

It should prove to be a win-win situation, at least until Skyjack begins to ship a broad line of articulated boom lifts and begin competing with Nifty. However that will take a while yet, and when those products are launched they may well have sufficient differentiation to compliment the Nifty models. Or circumstances might have changed by then?

The Skyjack name was already taken in South Africa by the local manufacturer Skyjacks, this caused difficulties when Ingersoll Rand started importing the original Skyjack products, thus the decision to use the Skydeck brand locally.