Neubert moves into the driver’s seat at Toyota Forklift

ALAN PEAT THERE ARE new hands at the wheel of Toyota Forklift, a part of the Imperial Group since 1995, with Gary Neubert taking over as CEO from founder member Don Bailiff. Neubert joined the company in December 2000 and was appointed regional director for the Western Cape in 2003. Bailiff, meanwhile, along with fellow founder member, Rob Dutton (who retired in 2004), started Toyota Forklift in October 1984 – and developed the company from a 12 forklift trucks per month company into a billion rand a year outfit with operations in both SA and the UK. There are over 18 000 Toyota forklift trucks in SA, with the company also owning and operating a rental fleet of over 10 000 – 7 000 in SA and 3 000 in the UK, where Impact Fork Trucks is now the UK’s second largest Toyota forklift distributor. The biggest challenge in selling and supporting forklift trucks, according to Bailiff, lies in people development. This was endorsed by new CEO Neubert. “We have full accreditation by the sector training authority, Merseta,” he said. “At any one stage, there are between 25 and 30 apprentices in training in our organisation, and our Cape Town Branch is the only accredited forklift technician trade test centre in the country. “Empowering people to deliver our values in teamwork can only stem from training.” Consistent service quality is the next challenge, according to Bailiff. “No amount of service can fix sub-grade quality,” he said. Neubert told FTW that he intended to drive these values forward with the vision that “the future is in aftermarket service”. “We have been provided with a strong base where we can form partnerships with our customers to reduce their cost while growing our business,” he added.