For most of us, buying a car or van is a fairly simple process. In terms of cars, it's really a choice of saloon, SUV, coupé or estate. Vans tend to be something like a single or double cab, rear doors or side doors, flat bed and how much weight do you want to carry. But what if you need something which is tailored to your requirements? That's where CPD Bodies in Stockton come in.
They specialise in custom-built vehicles which are designed to do a job. This can be something like a flat-bed which tips; a flat-bed with side bars or side panels which are either fixed or can be lowered. How about one with a large cage?
Imagine that you have a landscaping business and need to be able to easily load and offload mowers. CPD can construct a flat-bed which has a rear ramp that allows you to drive the mowers on and off.
Or what if your company specialises in traffic management where operatives need to safely position orange cones on the road from the side of the vehicle.
If you need to be able to load some heavy or bulky items, why not have a tail lift.
And of course there is the classic Luton panel van. CPD can provide you with a range of sizes, carrying capacities and even fit a tail lift.
Stockton based CPD started from very humble beginnings 14 years ago. Managing Director and owner, Cathal Doocey, who learnt his trade at his father’s civil engineering firm, bought out a failing business for just £1, acquired all of their machinery and took on their workforce…of one person.
Since then, CPD has become one of the largest commercial vehicle body builders in the UK…and it is continuing to grow.
Turnover for 2022 was in the region of £40m and coming into 2023 and onwards Cathal sees continued growth for CPD Bodies Ltd with a forecast turnover of £50m for the end of this financial year. The business is looking to upskill its current staff as well as adding new products to satisfy customer demand.
Another part of CPD Group Holdings Ltd is CPD Land and Property which owns various pieces of land in and around Teesside. Cathal has plans for both residential and commercial with various pre apps already submitted.
“We’ve grown from one member of staff to over 100 employees and if things continue as they are, we could climb to near 140,” says Cathal. “In 2010 we were named as North East Best New Business, but arguably one of the turning points for CPD came in 2017 when we were awarded the title of North East Business of the Year. It put us on the map and gave us some national exposure. Since then, the orders have come in thick and fast.
At the moment it looks as though we will complete approaching 4000 vehicle builds over the next twelve months. We’re having particular success with our own Praevia range (it’s a Latin word which translates to ‘leading the way’) which we developed to safeguard the business. As well as boasting market-leading payloads, the range is lighter, more robust and cheaper than established alternatives. We saw a gap in the market and it’s doing incredibly well.”
CPD design and build the vehicles at their 14 acre Stockton base. Such is their reputation that they work closely with every major manufacturer, including Ford, Iveco, Mercedes and Volkswagen, who provide the cab, engine and chassis. Everything else after that is built by CPD.
They’ve secured sizeable orders from well-known firms such as LEX Autolease, United Rental Group, Europcar, Northgate and SHB Hire.
“We’re now big enough to ensure that if a customer wants a particular design, we’ll go the extra mile to give them exactly what they want and when they want it. It’s our service offering that’s made us stand out from the crowd. In an industry where too often the body builder dictates the delivery times, what we deliver is in the timescale that the customer requires. If you need it for that date then that’s when you’ll get it. We’ve grown the business by being honest and doing what we say we’re going to do, ensuring we give top quality every time.”
Cathal and his CPD company are one of the North East’s business success stories. They’re a major employer in the Teesside area.
As you can see from the photos in this article, if you need a custom-built vehicle, CPD will ensure that you get something built to do a job.