ABT History
ABT Products is the UK’s leading cab, rollbar and chassis designer and manufacturer for construction, forklift truck, material handling, automotive and agricultural industries. We are a fabrication specialist, producing batches of products in quantities of 20-500 items, depending upon their cost and complexity. ABT predominantly uses mild steel (1mm – 6 mm thick), together with a range of proprietary parts to produce a wide range of cabs and load guards.
Take a look at our timeline:
1964
The business was formed by Anthony
Beach-Thomas.
1971
A new 465 square metre Factory was built in Alton Road, Ross-on-Wye
The company was incorporated when Anthony was joined by Roger Gates.
The company had three employees, excluding Directors and a turnover of £50,000.
1972
The company started to manufacture livestock feeding equipment and over the next fifteen years ABT developed own range of agricultural equipment. This included cultivators, bale wrappers and bale handlers. Exhibiting and selling ABT’s product range all over the world was a great achievement for the business and the Directors.
the original three employees were transferred from Old Gore (Anthony’s home and workshop). At this time, the company manufactured silage pit-props, gutter brackets, and doors for agricultural buildings as well as lawn mower handles.
1976
Nigel Mummery joined the company and progressed to Managing Director.
1986
Due to business success and expansion, the original factory increased in size over the years, growing to 1468 square metres.
1987
A neighbouring factory was purchased to give the company a further 465 square metres
1988
The company had become involved in the manufacture of cabs for forklift trucks – ABT needed a larger Factory!
1989
The present 3.2 acre Ashburton site was purchased, and a new state-of-the-art, purpose-built 2787 square metre Factory was constructed.
1993
ABT resumed its upwards growth after a struggle through the 1990 recession and became a significant supplier of cabs to the forklift truck industry. ABT also made chassis for sports cars and ABT’s own brand of agricultural machinery.
1994
The factory was extended
1995
The Factory was expanded further
1997
As the business continued to grow, the factory required further expansion to facilitate a larger team and more efficient working.
ABT had 84 employees and a turnover in excess of £4,000,0000.
1999
The company invested in an Autophoretic Paint Plant to provide customers with the ultimate corrosion protection. The Autophoretic process involves high-quality surface cleaning of ferrous metal and an anti-corrosion treatment, increasing product life. The anti-corrosion treatment provides over 1000 hours of salt spray protection. The Plant is the largest in Britain and one of the largest in Europe.
2003
Nigel Mummery progressed to Managing Director and owner of the company.
2006
ABT have been able to carry out ROPS/TOPS tests using an in-house purpose-built rig. ABT are also able to carry out FOPS tests.
2007
The company had 97 employees and a turnover of £8,000,000.
2008
ABT commissioned a new HD CNC 3m bed plasma machine. This enabled the company to produce profiles up to 32mm in thickness
2011
The business was acquired by Mark Hignett and Tim Morris. At the same time, Loadmac was merged into ABT. Loadmac truck mounted forklifts are designed and built at ABT with direct sales from the factory to UK end users. Loadmac truck mounted forklifts are also exported to Australia, U.S. and Canada.
2012
ABT employed 80 people and had an annual turnover of £8,000,000.
2016
Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal visited ABT Products Limited in Ross on Wye. After hearing about the continued growth of ABT and Loadmac, the Princess Royal requested to visit the factory and see the operation for herself.
2021
Tim Morris was appointed as Managing Director.
2025
ABT are proud to have recently invested in a new, automated and state-of-the-art shot blaster. Able to shot blast numerous large items on a constant tracked system, this new equipment not only offer our customers an additional service offering in terms of surface preparation, but also increases our factory capacity and increases efficiency.
