A long journey from when Roger first started in the business, back in December 1969, as a seventeen year old breakdown recovery operator.
After a few years working as an operator Roger recognised that there was a requirement for better and more specialised equipment and so moved into manufacturing, eventually deciding to concentrate entirely on the recovery truck building side of the business.
At the time of starting the company, the majority of trucks were either fixed beds with loading ramps or equipped with recovery cranes.
Roger was quick to recognise the industry moving towards slidebeds, developing this side of the market and then later to the super low approach slidebeds of today.
The company rapidly built up a reputation for building vehicle conversions of excellent quality and reliability.
These days the Roger Dyson group provides a range of systems, from lightweight transporters to a giant 65 ton sliding rotator, supplying a wide range of market sectors including vehicle recovery, motor salvage, car rental, vehicle transportation systems, plant and construction.
The company has been at the forefront of new developments within these industries, keeping up with new technology to offer their customers the best product innovations available in the marketplace.
The Roger Dyson Group is now the UK’s leading manufacturer of recovery and transport systems.
Hydro Aluminium Extrusion supplies the aluminium extrusions for all the aluminium floors on the slidebed product ranges.
Slidebeds have particular requirements as extra strength is required in the floor in the absence of underlying supporting structures as the slide bed platform demounts off the vehicle chassis into the loading position.
Aluminium extrusion lends itself to this particular application as the metal is lightweight but strong and durable, offering the same strength as structural steel with increased payload.
Roger Dyson in conjunction with Hydro developed an interlocking planking system in order to give the floor platform extra strength.
Wire eroded samples were made for approval of the interlocking planks prior to going forward with manufacturing of the die and the Dyson order going into production.
“We are very pleased with the new design. It has exceeded our expectations,” says Mike Driver, Head of Engineering at Roger Dyson Ltd. “We were originally sourcing from a supplier based in Europe but we wanted to improve the quality and consistency of the product. By sourcing direct from the UK we have been able to tailor the design to our exact requirements and to develop a better quality product.”
Explains Mike Driver, “We can buy smaller runs from Hydro UK, which means that lead times have been reduced considerably. The product not only exceeds our expectations on manufacturing but the packaging and delivery ensures the product arrives with us without defects.”
Colin O’Neill, Hydro’s Sales Development Manager adds “At Hydro we try to build a relationship with our customers.
We make ourselves highly accessible. We encourage liaison with all our departments, not just an external Account Manager, which develops excellent lines of communication and we will always respond as quickly as possible.”
This philosophy is endorsed by Roger Dyson:
“We found Hydro on the Internet. We approached 2 companies initially to quote but Hydro won on personality and customer service. We felt that the company fitted well with our business and were keen to develop a long term relationship with us.”
The Roger Dyson factory in Droitwich is currently producing over 150 conversions a year from lightweight slidebacks to giant 65 ton sliding rotators.
In the past few years the site has been extended and now also boasts a state of the art showroom, unveiled in June 2008 which was the climax of a three year investment and redevelopment programme.
Understandably the company is very proud of the facilities and reputation for manufacturing the best recovery systems in Europe.
However much of Roger Dyson’s success is based on looking to the future, so new opportunities have already been identified and plans are in place for the next stage of the aluminium journey.
