​Southern Plant, a family-run plant and tool hire firm, has made a significant investment in Kubota mini-excavators to support its ongoing expansion.
 
Based in Henley-on-Thames, the firm has been a Kubota customer since its incorporation in 1988, when it bet that the versatility of mini-excavators would provide major benefits over backhoe machines. 
 
Southern Plant purchased 12 excavators in total from Boss Plant Sales, the official Kubota dealer for London, Oxfordshire and the Home Counties. From Kubota’s market-leading mini-excavator range, Boss Plant Sales delivered four K008-3 micro excavators, alongside four U17-3ɑ and four U27-4 mini excavators. 

The 12 new excavators are based at Southern Plant’s new Brackley site, which opened in March to meet growing demand in the area as the UK exits lockdown restrictions. Located conveniently near both the M1 and M40, the new branch will serve Coventry, Kettering, Northampton, Bedford and Oxford.
 
Vincent Rose, co-director of Southern Plant, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be expanding to meet the pent-up demand we’ve seen over the last few months for excavators and hire equipment, and we’ve already received great feedback on our Brackley offering.
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“For Southern Plant, Kubota excavators are the obvious choice. The machines are extremely reliable, offering us an excellent investment, while Kubota’s second-to-none aftermarket support ensures our units are always available for hire. And they’re a customer favourite - for their combination of power and flexibility. We’re delighted to be making the next step in Southern Plant’s journey with these mini excavators.”

Kubota’s market leading 5-tonne mini-excavator range has been recognised by the iF World Design Guide with the prestigious iF Design Award 2021 – the international label for outstanding product design. 

The iF Design Award is an annual award ceremony that brings together the world’s best manufacturers, designers and architects who demonstrate innovative and outstanding design. The award ceremony is a truly global event, with this year’s awards attracting more than 10,000 entries from 52 countries. 

A judging panel of independent design experts awarded Kubota’s range of mini-excavators the top prize in the construction machinery category, citing that the 5-tonne range provided a level of safety and cabin comfort unique in the mini-excavator market. The iF Design Award comes off the back of the 5-tonne range being awarded a Red Dot Award, another internationally recognised quality mark of design excellence. 

The 5-tonne mini-excavator range consists of three models, the KX060-5, U56-5 and U50-5. Each model combines a compact design with advanced performance capabilities, with newly developed interiors and exteriors designed with the operator in mind to provide the ultimate handling experience. 
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Glen Hampson, Division Manager for Construction at Kubota, commented: “We take our position as the market leading manufacturer of mini-excavators very seriously and we constantly strive to set new standards in machinery performance and design. This desire to continually enhance our machinery has led us to our 5-tonne range and we are absolutely delighted to receive such a recognised and prestigious award for design.”