When Yorkshire Water approached CPL with a requirement for twenty identically-specced MEWP vans — all fully liveried, all IPAF-signed off, all delivered within a single quarter — it was exactly the kind of build our Kettering workshop is set up for.
Table of Contents
The Brief
Yorkshire Water operates infrastructure across a region spanning over 3.7 million customers. Their field teams work at height on a daily basis — inspecting reservoirs, maintaining overhead cable runs, and accessing pump stations that sit well above ground level. The existing fleet was ageing, a mix of hired units and older owned vehicles that varied in spec and condition.
The procurement team came to CPL having already shortlisted the vehicle type: a Ford Transit-based van-mounted MEWP, 12 m working height, with a stabiliser footprint that could cope with the mixed-surface terrain typical of water treatment sites. What they needed was a single supplier who could deliver consistency at scale — same spec, same livery, same sign-off standard — across all twenty units.
The Yorkshire Water site brief covered access to infrastructure across mixed terrain — tarmac, gravel and grass verges.
Specification and Loadout
Working with the Yorkshire Water fleet manager, we agreed the following specification for each unit:
- Ford Transit Custom chassis, long wheelbase, automatic gearbox
- 12 m working height, 180° continuous rotation jib
- Four-point manual outrigger system with ground-bearing pressure plates
- Built-in tool tray and 240 V shore-power socket
- Rear-mounted cable reel, 25 m, rated to 16 A
- Yorkshire Water corporate livery, full-wrap, including hi-vis chevrons to rear
The outrigger specification was a specific requirement driven by experience on soft ground at pump station access points. Standard rubber-pad outriggers were ruled out in favour of wider steel bearing plates, which reduce ground pressure by approximately 40% for the same vehicle weight.
The Build
All twenty units were built at our Kettering facility over a ten-week programme. With a phased chassis delivery schedule from Ford, we ran two parallel build lanes — six units in the first wave, eight in the second, and six in the final.
Chassis Preparation
Each chassis arrived as a standard long-wheelbase Transit and went through a preparation stage before the platform was fitted: subframe reinforcement, wiring loom extension for the MEWP control circuit, and fitting of the rear work-lighting bar.
Subframe reinforcement in progress in the Kettering workshop. All steel work is hot-dip galvanised before assembly.
Platform Fit and Outrigger Work
The platform units arrived from our KLUBB Group partners on a staggered delivery to match our build schedule. Each platform was trial-fitted, aligned, and torqued to spec before the outrigger legs were fabricated and welded. The custom bearing plates were cut in-house on the plasma table to the drawing agreed with the customer.
Every unit was then run through a full load-test cycle — platform at maximum height and reach, outriggers on a simulated soft-ground surface — before moving to the finishing stage.
Livery and Finishing
Livery is done in-house at CPL. For the Yorkshire Water fleet, this meant a full-wrap application in the utility company's corporate palette, including the branded panel graphics and the regulatory hi-vis chevron array to the rear of each vehicle. Keeping livery in-house means we can control quality and sequence it to the build programme rather than waiting on an external bodyshop.
Each unit was also fitted with a magnetic door-number set and a unit-specific asset tag tied to Yorkshire Water's fleet management system.
Completed units lined up at the Kettering yard before dispatch. Livery applied in-house, sign-off pending IPAF inspection.
Delivery and Sign-off
IPAF sign-off was carried out by our in-house approved engineer before each unit left the yard. Delivery was phased to match Yorkshire Water's fleet rotation schedule — the first six units were on-site before the end of April, with the remaining fourteen following across May and June.
The fleet manager confirmed that all units passed their incoming inspection and were in service within the week. No snags were raised on any of the twenty vehicles — a result the workshop team was understandably pleased with.
If you are planning a fleet procurement and would like to discuss a similar programme, get in touch with the team. We can run a build schedule alongside finance pre-approval so the units ship ready to deploy.