History
  • Liebherr-Great Britain Ltd. was first formed in 1961 (known then as Liebherr Building Machinery Limited) primarily to supply the British construction industry with tower cranes. In the early 1960's, these machines were still innovative site materials handling equipment and Liebherr technology so impressed major contractors that their tower cranes became legion throughout the country. The speedy establishment of Liebherr tower cranes in the UK, swiftly followed by the introduction of excavators and concrete batching plants, soon led the Liebherr organisation to seek a suitable location for a custom-built UK headquarters.
  • In 1965, a greenfield site was found at Welham Green near Hatfield in Hertfordshire. At that time, Liebherr employed some 100 personnel nationally, turning over in the region of £2 million. The Welham Green operation included sales, marketing, service, spares and administration departments covering the whole of the United Kingdom.
  • In 1968, two new regional depots were inaugurated - Bathgate in Scotland and Runcorn in north-west England (now at a modern facility in Ashton-in-Makerfield near Wigan). These were soon augmented by further depots in north-east England and the Midlands, giving Liebherr a strategic coverage of the whole country and an ability to carry spares holdings and provide regional service back-up for the company's growing customer base. 1968 also saw the introduction of Liebherr mobile cranes and concrete truck mixers to the British market and, like their predecessors, the technology and superior engineering of these machines soon established the ranges with discerning British customers.
  • In 1973, Liebherr Building Machinery Limited changed its name to Liebherr-Great Britain Ltd., in order to reflect the wider range of equipment now offered to a much broader customer base. 1974 saw the introduction of the highly advanced hydrostatic drive crawler loader range, followed in 1978 by the tracked loading shovels - which also employed a hydrostatic drive system. Wheeled loaders were the last of the ranges to arrive in the UK and this occurred in 1985.