Natassia Richardson​
Marketing Executive
Case Study for and on behalf of Francis Clark LLP
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Eco Charger – leading the charge!
Eco Charger, the world’s leading manufacturer of electric quad bikes is ‘Leading the Charge’ in E-ATV technology with their expanding and innovative range of ‘workhorses’ which are being used in a wide range of roles throughout the globe.
To celebrate Great British Manufacturing, we sat down with Russell Crisp, Executive Chairman of Eco Charger to find out more about the business journey so far, and how a passion for sustainability is at the core of their success and ever-growing product line.
Tell us about Eco Charger and how the business has developed since its inception
Eco Charger was the groundbreaking initiative of the original founder, Fred Chugg, who has a longstanding North Devon farming background where his family have owned the same farm for 400 years. The family also run an outdoor pursuits centre which includes an extensive quad bike experience. Overtime, it became apparent to Fred, a keen exponent of green energy and sustainability, that an electric powered Quad would be a viable alternative to traditional petrol motive power - so he set about developing a workable solution that combined robust design with an electric power.
Ultimately, at the core of Eco Charger is sustainability which was always the focus of Fred from the beginning, and his brilliance and determination to develop a product that would be effective and would have enormous benefits. Innovation and enterprise gave birth to the business, but continual technical excellence has allowed it to grow, coupled with keeping the environmental green message concurrent all the way through that. And the success is the expansion into its worldwide distribution network. We now ship around the globe and service an array of industries from agriculture to the military.
What challenges has Eco Charger faced, and how has the business overcome them?
The main challenge we face as a business is maintaining and constantly improving the technical capability of our machines. As a business we are consistently investing in Research and Development to ensure optimal levels of sustainability are present in the products but also the business and how it operates.
The other technical challenge is to continue to look for improvements to structural and component parts. Our aim is to ensure where feasible that the majority of components are British made. We're members of Made in Britain organization as well, which are very proactive in supporting and promoting UK manufacture.
The other business challenge has been awareness and marketing because when Eco Charger first started to put the bikes onto the market, people really weren't that aware of the advantages
and tangible benefits of electric power. We maintain awareness through our marketing activity on the positive benefits of using electric power. However, due to changes from the government and other influences there is now a general emphasis on going electric - so that's come of age and is less of an uphill struggle!
As a business we obviously face increasing challenges from competitors. We quite rightly claim to be the world’s first leading all electric quad bike but with increasing competition from overseas markets such as America and China we are faced with challenges in what is now a rapidly developing and expanding marketplace for EATV’s.
What keeps Eco Charger at the forefront of the competition?
Product development is central to our success as a business. Technically the quadbikes have improved over the course of time and have adapted for different uses. We don’t stand still as a business.
Our bikes are very prominent in the agricultural market for herding livestock and helping with the day to day running of farms, small holdings, horticultural businesses and even vineyards! They're also used for estate management, in public services and for ecotourism around the world. They've also been used in the film industry because the silent running of our quadbike is perfect for that environment. We are very proud of the sheer variety of roles that our quadbikes are used for.
Tell us about what Eco Charger is doing to promote sustainability
Aside from wanting to develop an electric quadbike, the real focus was to look towards green power, environmental sustainability, and the advantages of using electric power. There are two benefits to this, the obvious environmental benefits of using green power, but also using technology that is less noisy makes it easier to use with livestock and in other scenarios where too much sound would be an issue, such as in military environments. As a result of combining these benefits, we developed the electrical quadbike. And that's continued with the increasing introduction of lithium power throughout the ranges, - a far more sustainable way of providing power allowing the batteries themselves to be recycled.
To ensure the entire life cycle of our bikes are sustainable we are also developing a policy where bikes can be traded in at the end of their working life with a financial incentive, encouraging the bikes to enter a responsibly managed re-cycling process of recycling retrieving parts can be reused and ensuring that waste is minimized!
When it comes to supporting the supply chain and the end users of our bikes, we're now in the process of making sure that we provide the dealerships comprehensive background to the company and some of our policies and protocols about using the brand and the background to our business. So, we're making sure that the dealers are fully engaged with Eco Charger’s approach to business, customer service and philosophy.
T +44 (0)1392 667000 F +44 (0)1392 667001 W www.pkf-francisclark.co.uk
Find out more about Eco Charger Ltd on their member profile page here
Member-created content 2 years ago | From members