A belated happy new year to all our ADT customers around the globe. There definitely seems to be a different energy to 2022 compared to the past two years and one can only hope that over the coming months we move ever closer to the normality we enjoyed pre-pandemic.

In many ways 2021 has been a breath of fresh air compared to last year. Although COVID-19 is still very much with us, we have learnt to adapt and our businesses and lives have regained a greater, and much-needed, degree of normality as a result.

I trust that you have all had a good start to the year despite the cloud of COVID-19 that continues to hang over us. By all accounts it looks like 2021 will be another challenging year as we cope with effects of the pandemic and I wish you, your families and businesses strength and resilience.

It goes without saying that 2020 will be remembered as an extraordinary year. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our lives and livelihoods, created global uncertainty, and changed the way we interact with one another. Sanitising and social distancing have been adopted as the ‘new normal’ and Bell Equipment is doing everything in our control to keep our stakeholders safe and healthy.

Any optimism that 2020 would deliver green shoots has been shattered in the face of the raging global COVID-19 pandemic which will pressure our South African and the world economy for the foreseeable future.

Bell Equipment has a truly global footprint with our Articulated Dump Trucks operating in about eighty countries all over the world. This magazine is one of our most representative yet with coverage from all our major markets: North America, South Africa, Africa, Europe, South East Asia and South America.

While 2019 has been a tough trading year in Southern Africa, the strategic diversification of our business, a strong customer service ethos and a loyal customer base has enabled Bell to continue to make an impact in a poor market.

Much of our news in this edition is attributed to Bauma Munich in Germany, which took place in April and always provides a sound platform to introduce new ADT innovations to our global target audience. This year was no different as we showcased our B45E 4x4 and announced the upcoming Mark 3.0 upgrades to our E-series range. It was also rewarding to see the wonderful turnout by our customers and dealers and experience the upbeat environment.

2019 marks the 65th anniversary of Bell Equipment and indications are that the year is going to be an incredibly busy and eventful one with great opportunities for customer interaction and building solid relationships.

2018 will be remembered as a busy and rewarding year for Bell Equipment as we continued to drive and achieve continuous improvement in strategic areas of the business.

Looking back on a busy year - 2018 will be remembered as a year of change and progress for Bell Equipment as we continued to drive continuous improvement in the critical area of customer support. Key to this has been ensuring that we are located as close as possible to where our machines are working.

It gives me great pleasure that one of my first tasks as Group CEO, having been recently appointed on 1 June 2018, is to write this message to you, our customers.

2017 will be remembered in the Bell Equipment annuls as a particularly busy and productive year. I’m also pleased to report that it’s been considerably more positive than the past few years as some of our major Articulated Dump Truck markets show signs of improvement.