Niftylift has been in Australia for more than two decades and holds to its core values of innovation, environmental responsibility, and good old-fashioned quality and customer service.
The Nifty Australia story began in England in the early 1980s. A young Roger Bowden had a rental fleet of aerial work platforms and saw a need for a 12-metre trailer-mount. With no machines of that spec available, the mechanical engineer launched into making his own in a hired shed.
He managed 30 units in that first year, and requests for more came in thick and fast. The second year production had jumped to 200, and there’s been no looking back since.
When Niftylift wanted to break into the Australian market, employee John King was given the job of getting the brand settled and growing.
Nearly 25 years later the likable Englishman, now a company director, can look the world in the eye and say, “Job done.”
A tough beginning
John found his first challenge waiting when he landed in 2000 and set out to launch Nifty Australia.
“It wasn’t a great time to turn up selling work platforms,” recalled King. “The Olympic infrastructure had just been built and there was a glut of machines.
“But we knocked on doors and eventually a door would open. Then we knocked on all the doors again, and another door would open. And so it went.”
Niftylift – the UK company’s official name which wasn’t available when King arrived in Australia – is still owned by Roger Bowden, and still pursues innovation and environmental responsibility in all its products, but from the garden shed in 1983 Niftylift now circles the globe, including John King’s fiefdom of Australia and New Zealand.
The secret of that success?
It’s no secret at all, as John King explained.
“We produce machines at a lower weight,” he said, his belief in the product shining from him. “We have hybrid powerplants or electric-only powerplants, and we’re moving into the hydrogen stage next. That’s where we see some of the future going.
“We’re constantly innovating and trying to be more environmentally friendly at the same time.”
Niftylift commits huge resources to research and development of its products, not only in drive and propulsion. Ensuring the machinery is lighter than competitors’ products is a major goal of the brand. Lighter machines give better access and use less energy.
For the arborist
Asking John to name a single Nifty EWP ideally suited to arbor work turned out to be a challenge.
“Our trailer-mounts are just perfect for the arbor industries,” he smiled.
“Certainly the the Nifty 150T…and the Nifty 17-metre as well. We also do a 21 metre,” he said, deep in thought. “We began to feel as though King was on track to run through the entire Nifty catalogue. “Another machine we see sell reasonably well is the 210SD – it’s a 21-metre machine, but it’s on outriggers. It’s four-wheel drive, four-wheel steer, it’s got big coil-spring suspension and pneumatic tyres. It works very well on rough terrain, but still weighs under four tons.”
“That’s incredible for a 21-metre machine,” he beamed. “Really it depends what the arborist wants. We’ve got something for everybody, really,” he concluded.
To see the range of Nifty Australia lifts and machinery, and to work out which of the vast range of machines will suit your requirements, log on to niftylift.com.au. Or maybe just give the team a call on 02 4964 9765.