2014 was another great year for GGR Group. Here’s our best moments of last year…

January – 50 years of Glass Vacuum Lifting

This year we celebrated 5 decades of vacuum lifting technology with the 50th anniversary of US manufacturer Woods Powr-Grip.

GGR is the official UK dealer for Woods Powr-Grip glass vacuum lifters, hand cups and suction mounts. Company founder Howard Wood sold his first hand cup from his store in Montana, USA in 1964. Read more about the history of Woods vacuum lifters.

February – French rendezvous with a Dragon

This year our compact cranes have been used to help install and refurbish war memorials in the UK and abroad.

In February a UNIC URW-095 mini crane was used in Picardy, France to remove and reinstall the refurbished dragon sculpture which sits on top of the Mametz Wood memorial commemorating those killed during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. An MCC804 mini crawler crane was also hired to help move boulders at the Bannockburn war memorial near Stirling, Scotland in time for the opening of a new attraction at the heritage centre.

March – FORS accreditation

In March 2014, GGR’s transport fleet achieved Silver FORS accreditation from Transport for London. GGR are one of only 100 companies in the UK to achieve Silver status as part of the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme.

April – Winner of the Hire Awards of Excellence

In April 2014 we took home a prize for HAE Company of the Year at the Hire Awards of Excellence event which is run by Hire Association Europe. We attended the prestigious event at The Savoy Hotel in London to pick up our award.

Our website www.ggrgroup.com was also highly commended in the Website of the Year award category.

May – Mini crane training for the Danish Air Force

One of GGR’s training team travelled to Karup military base in Denmark in May this year to train three airmen from the Royal Danish Airforce on how to safely operate their UNIC URW-706 mini spider crane. Read more about UNICmilitary mini cranes in action.

June – Winner of the European Rental Award

2014 proved to be an award winning year for GGR as our Managing Director Gill Riley picked up the prize for European Rental Person of the Year at the European Rental Awards in Amsterdam. Gill made history as the first woman to ever receive this award!

July – Canary Wharf mini crane stars on BBC Crossrail documentary

GGR’s UNIC URW-706 spider crane and one of our crane operators starred on a BBC TV documentary about the Crossrail project and the construction of Canary Wharf station. Watch the video of our UNIC crane in action lifting steel louvre units on the documentary.

August – Selfridges Rick Owens sculpture

In August of this year our UNIC mini cranes were hired to install two unusual sculptures in London.

Our UNIC URW-706 crane installed a statue of fashion designer Rick Owens at Selfridges department store, a UNIC URW-095 crane lifted a knife sculpture at Heston Blumenthal’s new restaurant inside Heathrow airport and UNIC URW-376 crane helped to construct a steel statue in Sheffield.

September – Guest Appearance on C4 Grand Designs

GGR’s mini cranes appeared on the small screen again in September 2014 when a UNIC URW-706 crane and a range of vacuum lifters starred on Channel 4’s Grand Designs. Our lifting equipment helped to install glazing to a cliffside home in Gwynedd, North Wales.

October – Launch of innovative Lifting Equipment

GGR launched a number of new and exclusive lifting products in 2014. Earlier in the year we launched the 250kg capacity Libro 250 Compact overhang beam, before launching our highest capacity counterbalanced beam in October, the 1500kg capacity Libro 1500.

We have also added two specialist quad-circuit vacuum lifters for handling curved glass into our hire fleet – the Quad Curve 1000 and Quad Curve 2000.

November – Giving a lift to a cable car gondola

In November this year, one of GGR’s UNIC URW-095 mini spider cranes was hired to suspend a cable car gondola from the ceiling of North Greenwich Underground station to promote the Emirates Airline link across the River Thames. GGR’s Network Rail approved cranes have continued to work in the rail industry on a range of projects in 2014

December – Christmas trees

As the year drew to a close, GGR’s team got into the festive spirit by working on unusual lifting projects in time for Christmas. Our Starworker 1200 trailer crane helped erect this giant Christmas tree shaped structure in time for the opening of London Southbank’s Christmas markets.

From everyone at GGR, Happy New Year and have a great 2015!