Narrow Aisle is setting its sights on growth opportunities as well as developing new products. Peter Wooldridge, managing director at Narrow Aisle, says the aim is to develop niche products, strengthen its UK presence and expand onto the Continent.
The company, best known for its Flexi articulated trucks, singles out Scotland, Cornwall and the Doncaster area as the gaps it needs to plug in the UK.
According to Wooldridge, the company has been “dipping a toe in the water” as far as getting into mainland Europe is concerned. It has been selling into Spain for the past four years and interest in Narrow Aisle’s products is growing in France.
Narrow Aisle has just launched two new products – the Flexi GAS articulated truck and the OutBack R5 four-wheel reach truck.
The company bought the R5 from Crown two years ago and has since developed it so that it can work outdoors in the loading yard of retail stores. The R5 features a four-wheel layout with an articulating rear axle that gives excellent ride and generous ground clearance. The four-wheel layout gives superior lateral stability compared with three-wheel reach trucks, eliminating the outboard stabilisers. It also has the option of large diameter cushion rubber tyres on the load wheels for improved performance over rough surfaces.
The Flexi GAS is the first LPG-powered articulated truck which can work in a 1,750mm aisle between loads. More than half of the new truck’s major chassis parts and other components are identical to the Flexi G3 electric range.
It features a “quiet and reliable” General Motors engine with Impco LP Gas carburetion and latest technology three-way catalytic converter. The gas bottle is mounted in an easy-to-load cradle that allows quick and safe bottle changeovers.
