It was 2002 when CTE opened the Enderby branch in Leicestershire.
It was March 2002 when CTE SpA President Lorenzo Cipriani took the step to found CTE UK, opening the UK market to a new range of truck-mounted aerial platforms, a completely new concept to the UK market at that time replicating the business model that has been such a success in Italy. In fact, with two models on 3,5tons trucks, ZED 17 (16m) and ZED 20 (20m), CTE succeeded where many failed, namely:
– offering an articulated platform on a truck, in a market mainly focused on telescopic platforms
– offering light duty vehicles (precisely 3.5 tons) to be rented as “self-drive” (at that time the truck-mounted platform market in the UK was dominated by booms on VAN and telescopic arms for heavy duty trucks).
With this “new” vision, CTE become the market leader and maintains a dominant role in the market which culminated in 2022 being a record year for orders and long-term contracts with the “big three” (AFI, Nationwide, Smart Platforms) all in the same period.
Pioneers at the beginning from the foundation were Brian King, Peter Ellis, Peter Pemberton and Lorenzo Cipriani, with the company first managed by Brian King, then successively by Graeme Hill and now by Craig Rooke who has occupied the role of Managing Director since 2018.
On the 15th March CTE UK welcomed the founders and managers in a special “reunion” to celebrate 21 years since the formation of the Company (postponing the 20 year anniversary due to the Covid restrictions at the time) culminating in an anniversary dinner in a well-known Italian restaurant in Enderby, with guests reminiscing and sharing their experiences about the company’s history.
Lorenzo Cipriani, CTE Group President, adds: “It has been an honor to meet again all the people who have grown CTE UK in the last 21 years. And now I’m very proud to see CTE as a top brand in the UK.”
Craig Rooke, current managing director of CTE UK, states: “To have a commitment 21 years ago to the UK and Ireland by opening a local subsidiary is a huge compliment to Lorenzo Cipriani. Our aim today from the great work set by my predecessors is to keep building on that and CTE UK has a fantastic team of people which we have developed and grown and without their dedication to support to our customers we could not be the leading supplier in the UK and Ireland”.
In the picture, from left: Marco Govoni – CTE sales and marketing director; Lorenzo Cipriani – CTE Executive Vice President; Jeff Eisenberg and Chris Searle – Smart Platforms; Craig Rooke – CTE UK Managing Director; Andy Burt – Smart Platforms; Brian King and Peter Pemberton – CTE UK founders; Graeme Hill – CTE UK previous managing director.