People like Rodger Hoadley don't turn up that often and it could be argued that under the increasing weight of legislation, taxation and a total lack of interest in engineering industry by this, and previous UK Governments,
future Rodger Hoadley's would be unlikely to want to go into manufacturing, anyway. But that's not to say that, before his recent death at the age of 74, Rodger was stuck in the past. Quite the reverse in fact, he was a visionary.

Having seen a gap in the market for highway sweepers, Rodger left the security of working for full-time employer Blaw Knox and set up on his own with, initially, a very small team 26 years ago back in 1979. His favourite throwaway line in recent years; "Not bad for a little firm that started production in an old pigsty, eh?" is absolutely true and underlined his innate modesty. Yet in so many ways, Rodger Hoadley and Scarab Sweepers had many philosophical parallels in common with Joe Bamford and his creation, the mighty JCB. Both are successful British-owned engineering companies on an ever-shortening list.

What Scarab's competition failed to understand was that Rodger Hoadley could have sold-up and retired years ago, if he'd wanted to. But instead, he continued to do what he liked doing best - designing innovative new products, then making them better. But while he did that, he was also putting together a young team of designers and departmental managers to take Scarab into the next phase of it's development. It was all done quietly and behind the scenes, but it was always the plan. Tragically, he died before it was totally complete, but as I recently discovered, everything is now in place and up and running, now headed up by John Affleck who for many years has been the Company's Finance Director.

It's not by accident that recently appointed Sales Director, Dave Cassingham, started his career at Scarab on design, and while words like 'Company loyalty' don't tend to sound very trendy today, the fact is, a
large part of the 200-strong workforce at Marden joined the Company while still young, and have been instrumental in helping the Company grow. They feel proud of what has been achieved and rightly so.
A bit sentimental? Maybe, but the fact is, as most commercial organisations grow, merge, then rationalise, they lose the 'vision' of where they're going and as a result,ultimately fail. In contrast, I've been told in no uncertain terms that the Hoadley family, who between them hold the total shareholding of the business, have no intention of selling out, despite some rumours and doubts sown by the competition. In fact, having visited Scarab's Marden HQ since Rodger's death, I'd say there was a new determination to see Scarab move
into it's next phase as a truly global brand. Nobody wants to be the one to let 'The Old Man' down.

By re-investing profits in product design and development, the Company is now facing a future with a still young - and broad - product range, at a time when several of it's competitors are facing an ageing product line needing considerable investment and/or no spare cash. And where some are totally dependent on sub-contract component production subject to disruption as energy and transport costs spiral, Scarab has an ace card. It can buy-in components to meet increased demand if need be, but over the last decade - through sister company RJP Engineering - Scarab has been bringing back component fabrication in-house, enabling the Company to be almost entirely in charge of it's own destiny.

Dramatic Side-effects
As a result, there have been some dramatic side effects of this policy. A massive amount of investment (some £700,000) has been spent on new machine tools, laser cutting machines and, more recently, another £250,000 was spent on a new paintshop facility to meet the latest HSE regulations with more than enough capacity to meet large overseas orders. And while some have said Scarab is exposed through not having a compact, or sub-compact machine, continued analysis by the Company suggests that while an all-new small
Scarab machine could be produced by the in-house design team, from a marketing viewpoint entering this highly competitive sector was not such a sound investment. How about 'marketing' another product as a Scarab-branded machine, then? Even this idea, a million miles away from Rodger Hoadley's natural instinct, was recently tested when Madvac approached Scarab to sell the CN100, after the Bucher takeover of Johnston left the Canadian company isolated in Europe. It is interesting to note that Scarab took the decision not to proceed with this particular project, and it will be even more interesting to see how well Madvac's new partner Schmidt does in this respect. And what Scarab will do in the longer term....

It was Rodger Hoadley's view that it was very hard to produce a smaller machine that combines satisfactory reserves of reliability and toughness, matched to a viable payload at below 3.5 tonnes GVW. Even the little Scarab Minor, which started life at this level, is now rated up to 4.2 tonnes gross. And whilst it hasn't grown physically larger, John Affleck confirms it's been "challenging" to engineer-in the changes needed for Euro-4 legislation. This is however being achieved and a Euro-4 VM diesel-powered Scarab Minor will be ready for production in due course. However,although still successful in sales terms, it is beginning to show it's age.
So while Rodger Hoadley was less-than-enthusiastic to sanction a redesign for entirely cosmetic reasons, how will the new management team approach this issue?

Evolution, not Revolution?
"The Scarab Minor has been constantly updated throughout it's life," John Affleck replied. "We've faced the challenge of Euro-4, but at the same time recognised the advantages of going over to a full CANbus wiring system. All that project work has been undertaken in-house and while we've constantly looked at aspects such as cab design and other styling features, our customers tell us they want us to retain the simple construction and practicality that gives the Minor such good utilisation figures. Yes, we are looking at a new cab design, but this will be more a case of evolution than revolution," he emphasises.

So has a Scarab without it's founder really got the strength of purpose to grow further? In many ways, it's already a world-class brand with considerable developments in Australia and New Zealand - and more recently
Italy and the Middle East - having taken place as a result of new, or strengthened distribution. Quirkily, while Renault Trucks is still flatlining when it comes to UK sweeper chassis sales, in France, Scarab is
enjoying considerable sales success with larger Renault truck chassis, dispelling the jibe that Scarab Hydrostatics are only popular at the 7.5 tonne gross level. However it is that exclusively Isuzu-truck based design, the 'Monic' that surely has greatest potential in world markets - at least those with Isuzu dealerships - thanks to comparable payloads to larger 'purpose-built skid' sweepers (as built by Johnston, Ravo, Bucher and
others) at a thirty percent lower price. More robust, easier to drive and faster than the competition, it's one to watch.

There was considerable debate when the new twin-engined 'Mistral' truck-mounted range was introduced. But while competitors tried to suggest Scarab was retreating from it's 'single engine is best' philosophy, the
truth was, it was essential for the Company to have a 'traditional' auxiliary-powered machine for certain markets where body mounting, shipping and local labour conditions made the more complex production engineering
aspects of single-engined machine less competitive on price. This is bringing new groups of customer into Scarab's corner for the first time.

Conclusion
So what should we expect from Scarab in the future? "Nobody pretends that someone of Rodger Hoadley's stature won't be missed, but he always made it clear that he wanted the Company to progress and develop. The family are one hundred percent behind that goal and I'm pleased to say that financially the Company is stronger than ever. This means we can afford to continue to invest in R&D and plan for the future," John Affleck confirms. In fact, the new management team is already at work under his leadership. Vic Beckwith continues in his role as Marketing Manager with extra dealership liaison responsibilities in Ireland, the Pacific rim and the Middle East, while Neil Hetherington continues as European Sales Manager. Paul Mannering takes over as Home Sales Manager, under Dave Cassingham, with Peter Sands retaining his role as Service Director. On the manufacturing side, Darren Hoadley is now Operations Director.

Rodger Hoadley's passing really was the end of an era, but I sense there's a strong feeling at Marden, that it's also the start of an exciting new one. ends