LBS celebrates its 80th anniversary with more clean 'green' Canters
10th September 2011
LBS Builders’ Merchants has headquarters in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, and a network of 12 other branches throughout West Wales, and operates a fleet of 36 rigid vehicles with gross weights ranging from 7.5 to 26 tonnes.
All were supplied by Euro Commercials and most wear three-pointed stars. 
However, the line-up also includes a dozen 7.5-tonne Fuso Canters – Mercedes-Benz dealers in the UK are additionally responsible for sales and support of the popular Japanese light truck range.
LBS has just taken delivery of its second Canter 7C15 this year – another three are scheduled to enter service this autumn, while Euro Commercials is also processing orders for three new 16-tonne Mercedes-Benz Atego 1622s.
Not only does the 145hp engine that powers LBS’s latest Canters fall within Euro 5 emissions limits, it also meets the even more stringent – and voluntary – Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicle (EEV) standard.
Fitted with dropside bodies by Neath Coachbuilders and – in all but a couple of cases – rear-mounted Hiab cranes with brick grabs, the Canters are used primarily to deliver building materials to domestic customers who are typically undertaking self-build projects.
As LBS Transport Manager Neil Fearn explained, the model’s appeal owes much to its compact ‘footprint’ and high degree of manoeuvrability.
“The roads in this part of the world can be very narrow and we’re sending these vehicles to residential properties at which access can be an issue. That’s where the Canter comes into its own, because its relatively compact external dimensions mean our drivers can get in and out of places that other 7.5-tonners can’t reach, negotiating driveways for example without damaging adjacent lawns and flower beds.”
Useful, too, is the Canter’s market-leading payload. “We don’t always send these vehicles out fully laden,” continued Mr Fearn. “But when we need them to do so our Canters can carry around 2.5 tonnes – that’s about half a tonne more than we’d get on a traditional 7.5-tonner with the same heavy-duty body and crane grab, and that can be the difference between getting the job done with a single ‘drop’ or having to make a second delivery.”
Founded in 1931, LBS won the Best Independent Builders’ Merchant (6+ branches) and Best Builders’ Merchant Marketing Initiative awards at the national Builders’ Merchants Awards for Excellence 2010. Lisa Arcangeli, editor of awards organiser and leading trade publication Builders’ Merchants News, hailed LBS as “a dynamic merchant which is… going the extra mile to ensure that it captures market share and generates goodwill among its customers and its region”.
The relationship between operator and dealer goes back many years and LBS contract hires its vehicles through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services – the Canters are on six-year terms.
Mr Fearn added: “Euro Commercials and the vehicles it supplies have served us well down the years, which explains why we continue to put our faith in them. Euro’s sales executive Steve Bastin provides a first class service and when problems arise, as they always will from time to time, we know we can rely on the dealer’s workshop team to overcome them.”