Our News, Your News

TER news and business sector updates from the equipment experts

More auction houses endorse TER to check equipment before sale

Following the successful liaison between Cheffins and TER, we are proud to announce that TER will be checking all equipment that goes through Cheffins Auctions. 

Thimblelby & Shorland also signed up for TER Checks before sale. Richard Dance, Director, commented that "We find that buyers buy with more confidence if they know the machinery has been checked".



Tell us your stories

If you have a story, business article or news release about your own company, or any comments about our newsletter, please email
info@ter-europe.org. You will also find a space on the newsletter for online comments should you wish to make any!


Press Release - TER at Cereals 2017

TER and Cheffins celebrate their co-operation with Pimms and canapés at Cereals 2017

Jly 2017

At this year's annual Cereals event, TER announced their successful liaison with Cheffins and were proud to announce that they will be carrying out TER Checks on all equipment that goes through Cheffins Auctions from now on... 



Open day at Wainwright's Moon's Hill Quarry 

We visit Wainwright's Moon's Hill Quarry for an open day celebrating 125 years of continuous operation.

Nov 2016

Interestingly, James says that theft of plant machinery isn't too bad around the Mendip area. "The thieves are looking for the small items that can be easily moved", he notes.


TER Check unhooks stolen trailer on M5

On the afternoon of Wednesday 10th August 2016, PC Angus Nairn of the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) overtook an Ifor Williams box van trailer on the M5 motorway.

Nov 2016

The officer's suspicions were aroused when he noticed that the manufacturer's serial number plate had been removed from the chassis. As a multi-purpose trailer, box van trailers are very useful and extremely popular – not least with equipment thieves!


Criminal trends in rural agricultural plant crime

The imagination of criminals continues to pose a challenge to law-abiding folk in the agricultural plant sector.

Nov 2016

The imagination of criminals continues to pose a developing challenge to all law-abiding folk in the agricultural plant equipment sectors. Nothing stays still, and there is (what might have been termed in Cold War days) an "arms race" between the forces of good and the forces of evil...


8 Reasons to report equipment theft

Why reporting equipment theft to TER is a vital process to protect plant and return stolen items to their rightful owners.

Nov 2016

A look at the importance for insurers that all equipment theft is reported - it costs nothing, but allows us to recover items and return them to their rightful owners...


Big discounts for auction houses and dealers

TER is offering significant discounts to auction houses and dealers who check all their equipment with us.

Nov 2016

If you are a dealer or an auction house and purchase advanced credit, you could now pay as little as £4 for a TER theft and finance check – and as little as £2 for just a TER theft check...


Men jailed over six figure theft scam

Two men who were linked to handling a total of 24 stolen vehicles worth £100,000 have been jailed this month.

June 2016

The investigation was initiated by TER in 2012, after Matthew Hartley started using the TER Check service and various discrepancies were found...


BREXIT and what it could mean for farmers

We take a look at what influence the vote may have on farming, as many of our readers work in this industry.

June 2016

Britain – and indeed the world – has been rocked by the result of the European Union referendum last week, with 52% of voters backing Brexit. Much has been said about what effect this decision will have so TER decided to take a specific look at what influence the vote may have on farming, as many of our readers work in this industry.


IAATI - The National Crime Conference

We learned that the overall trend for vehicle theft is down since the 1990s, albeit with a rise by 20% over last year.

June 2016

We also learned that there is a huge amount of asset fraud: namely £146 million's worth in the motor trade. This represents a 24% increase. This is also a major problem in the world of plant and equipment...


What can plant owners do to deter thieves?

We talk to Plant Investigator Andy Bird, formerly of the Essex Stolen Vehicle Squad and Harlow CID.

June 2016

Through my service with Essex Police, I always leaned towards the investigation and methodology of auto crime, but my first experience of plant-related criminality came through Mal Finch who told me "Stolen plant is no different from a stolen car - it's just bigger!"...




Tractor theft almost ends in disaster

Plant theft doesn't only negatively affect the victim as was shown this month when a stolen tractor caused long train delays.

May 2016

A tractor thief caused more than a headache for the owner of the stolen tractor, after he crashed into a railway bridge trying to make his escape...



Peace of mind for equipment buyers

Based in beautiful County Kildare, Ganly Craigie auction items are now being checked by TER before sale.

May 2016

The business is routed in five key words: Integrity, Loyalty, Legality, Confidentiality and Fairness – and the auction house is now further proving their commitment to these values by checking items of plant with TER...


The Insurance Act 2015 - what it means for you

"The biggest reform to insurance contract law in more than a century" will come into force on 12 August 2016.

May 2016

The 2015 Insurance Act, described as "the biggest reform to insurance contract law in more than a century", will come into force on 12 August 2016. Insurers and the insured should be aware of new laws regulating disclosure in commercial insurance contracts, warranties and other contractual terms. The law will also provide for insurers' remedies for fraudulent claims...



What are the most common theft items?

We look into the statistics for plant and equipment theft and ask 'What are the most commonly stolen items?'.

May 2016

Recent trends in thefts and loss reports. This short report indicates plant and equipment theft trends, as reported to TER, over the last three months...


Somerset equipment thieves jailed

Two men were jailed this month after pleading guilty to fifty offences of commercial burglary amounting to £400k

Apr 2016

Rocky Broadway, 32, and Leonard Packman, 47 were sentenced to seven and a half years of prison each when they appeared in Bristol Crown Court on April 12th. They targeted quad bikes, farm machinery, generators and other items, stealing an estimated £400,000 worth of goods...



One of the first JCB drivers passes away

One of the first ever JCB drivers in the UK, Paul Nowicki, passed away last month at the age of 90

Apr 2016

Paul Nowicki first drove a JCB Dinkum in the late 1950s whilst working at Avonmouth Docks. After thirty years of working as a labourer, Nowicki's passion for his job and the machine which he drove never faltered...


How did it all start over 20 years ago?

We talk to Julian Radcliffe OBE TD about how he set up TER, following the success of ALR, the Art Loss Register

Apr 2016

"We had successfully established a similar company for art and antiques in 1990 and then looked at yachts, small planes, avionics, valuable cargoes and plant and equipment, all of which appeared to have the most serious problems in terms of stolen second-hand items..."


Another trailer scam to look out for!

Following last month's horse trailer scam, we have been made aware of another trailer scam and wanted to share the details with our readers

Apr 2016

A trailer is listed for sale within a magazine for a very cheap price. When potential purchasers make enquiries, they are told that the seller is in the armed forces and is moving abroad but can drop the trailer off anywhere in the country if they receive a deposit...


Auction houses - Helpful or not?

In our series of articles on how to protect yourself when buying second-hand equipment, John looks at how some auction houses actively help buyers of second-hand plant, and others do not

Apr 2016

The majority of auction houses very reasonably believe that responsibility for checking items lies with the purchaser. But most auction houses don't make that clear, let alone give any really helpful advice...



On the trail of the stolen Bobcat

The TER team arrived at work one Monday to discover that a Bobcat excavator, registered as stolen on our database, had been checked over the weekend

Mar 2016

A TER Check is carried out by people wanting to ascertain the ownership of a piece of equipment – and not normally to see if it's stolen or not - and when we realised that the person who checked the machine was only six miles from our office in Westbury, two of TER's specialists were sent to do some investigation work...


The latest horse trailer scam unveiled

We thought we would use our newsletter to bring the scam to your attention so that all of our clients remain vigilant!

Mar 2016

We have recently been made aware of an online scam in relation to the apparent 'sale' of trailers. The scam usually works like this...



Plant theft - an insurer's perspective

We ask insurance expert, Brian Joyce, why he thinks plant theft is such a big problem and what we can do about it

Mar 2016

"Because these are serious and seasoned gangs. Fortunately, we rarely hear of physical violence with plant theft because it's easier to steal from an unoccupied site...


Advice to buyers - what has changed?

Part of a series of articles on the subject, this time John Deverell looks at how some Auction Houses are embracing new technology and validating items that come up for sale

Mar 2016

One auction house declares on its website that all listed items are confirmed as being their property and that none are subject to any finance agreement. This is a good example of an auction house that has clearly carried out a reasonable level of due diligence on everything which it puts up for auction...


What does it take to be a plant specialist?

We interview TER's resident Plant Specialist and Police Liaison, Glynne Morgan about his work and experiences

Feb 2016

"It was a regular operation that the police carry out periodically where they pull over commercial vehicles and trailers to check the legitimate ownership of these machines..."



ATM theft thwarted in Bedfordshire

Strange as it may seem, plant is not always used by the good guys - and is not always used successfully

Feb 2016

In the early hours of 15th February, a JCB excavator was driven forcefully into the external wall of a bank in Bedfordshire, with the aim of breaking into an ATM machine...


Dumper thief jailed after 37-mile chase

A man who was chased by police for 37 miles after stealing a dumper truck has been jailed for 14 months...

Feb 2016

Nicholas Churchill, 40, damaged three police patrol vehicles as he was pursued by a helicopter and six police cars across Norfolk and Suffolk...


MACHINE PROFILE: CAT 365CL Excavator

At 65 tonnes, this machine weighs about the same as a Main Battle Tank - or 24 African elephants...

Feb 2016

In the photograph above, we feature one of quarrying's most powerful machines - the CAT 365CL excavator. At 65 tonnes, this machine weighs about the same as a Main Battle Tank, or – should you be of a more peaceable frame of mind - the same as 24 African forest elephants...


Telesis develops new way to prevent theft

The NOMAD 4000 system is a fully portable, rechargeable and battery-powered plant and equipment marker...

Feb 2016

Buderus Edelstahl is one of the biggest producers of stainless steel in the world. They were the first company in Germany to invest in a particularly important development against plant theft: the marking machine NOMAD 4000, as manufactured by Telesis...


Happy 20th Birthday TER!

Celebrating 20 years in the business...

Jan 2016

We've been so busy at TER over the last few months that we failed to realise that we should have celebrated our twenty year anniversary in November! The world was a very different place when we started in 1995: John Major was Prime Minister, Michael Jackson's Earth Song was Christmas number one and our newest employee had only been born the year before...



Lectura plant and equipment quiz results

Thank you to everyone who entered Lectura's latest plant and machinery quiz!

Jan 2016

The quiz, hosted by our partner company Lectura, featured in our November newsletter, received entries from almost 9,000 players within 109 countries including St. Helena, Jersey, Suriname and New Caledonia - a truly global challenge!



Resale Weekly

The leading publication for heavy equipment...

Jan 2016

Gain access to the latest, up to date information for equipment and spares when away from the office...


Proxibid

The online marketplace for farm & construction

Jan 2016

We take a look at Proxibid, the online marketplace for sales of fine art, real estate, vehicles, farm and construction equipment...


A TER Check in time saves £30,000

How a £15 TER Equipment Check helped save a plant dealer £30,000

Dec 2015

A plant dealer recently logged on to TER's website to check a 17-metre JCB telescopic handler which they were thinking about buying. The details of the machine were checked against TER's extensive database and no matches of theft were found. And that was that… or at least it might have been for lesser mortals.


Advice to buyers of plant and equipment

Paul Payne, our guest editor, investigates advice for buyers on auctioneer and dealer websites

Dec 2015

Logic might suggest that you can easily find help and advice on a dealer or auctioneer website when buying equipment. This, however, was not the case. For, to my great astonishment and some distress, it became apparent from this sample that the results were pretty consistent. There was none. Save for instruction on how to present lots or place bids, some basic health and safety advice, rudimentary protection of personal information/banking security recommendations and, in one case, a list of vehicles which had been reported stolen (in the USA), there was very little aid proffered.


How to corner the pre-owned market

Finding the used machinery desired from disparate sources can be an extremely time consuming task

Dec 2015

Construction Machinery, Excavators, Farm Machinery, Lifting Platforms, Cars, Woodworking Machinery, Metalworking Machinery – breath – Mini Excavators, Overhead Cranes, Lathes, Milling Machines, Sheet Metal Machinery, Metal Cutting Saws; the list of equipment available through TradeMachines seems endless.


Lectura - The universal construction database

From forklifts, cranes and aerial work platforms to construction equipment and agricultural machinery

Dec 2015

Lectura specializes in market research and the valuation of equipment ranging from forklifts, cranes and aerial work platforms to construction and civil engineering equipment, recycling plant and agricultural machinery. Based in Nuremberg, the publishing house was founded in 1984 and offers an overview of the value of used machines of every common brand on the European market.


Your online resource for technical specs

For approaching two decades SpecCheck has been the world's leading source of comparative technical data

Dec 2015

Based in Salford, Lancashire, Spec Check Europe Ltd. hosts a website, available in both desktop and mobile device formats, which gives access to a database that records the technical specifications for a vast range of construction plant and equipment, forestry apparatus, handling and loading paraphernalia, specialised vehicles and much, much more.


A Christmas recovery by our sister company

Once upon a time, on Christmas Eve, more than 100 religious artefacts were stolen from a church in Bolivia

Dec 2015

On Christmas Eve in 1997, more than a hundred religious artefacts were stolen from the Church (Templo) of San Andres de Machaca in La Paz, Bolivia. The church, declared a Bolivian National Monument in 1962, had been the target of thieves several years earlier before being stripped of its colonial masterpieces in 1997.


Trends in equipment theft

Trends in equipment theft and what they might mean for you

Nov 2015

TER's aim, through our work with clients, insurers and the police, is to:

  • Reduce theft
  • Reduce the amount of stolen plant getting to market; and,
  • Increase the recovery rate of stolen plant.

We aspire to work ever more closely with other agencies with a shared interest, in order to increase our collective impact. This will benefit not only those who use the services of each related company, but also users and buyers of plant and equipment in general. In effect, we want to reach a stage where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole...


You can disguise it but TER's database will find it!

Cheshire Police seized a large quantity of plant and equipment they had reason to suspect had been stolen

Nov 2015

Pictured above: PC Mike Dawber and PC Andy Hunt of Cheshire Police

As part of a recent POCA (Proceeds of Crime Act) investigation, Cheshire Police seized a large quantity of plant and equipment which they had reason to suspect had been stolen. Amongst this hoard was a Volvo EC15 which, for those not already in the know, is a 1.5 tonne mini excavator propelled on rubber tracks. Attempts had been made to disguise the identification of the machine by scratching out the serial number (possibly with a screwdriver) before painting over it - but the specialist police vehicle examiners were still able to verify its identity by other means...


Faster recovery for construction plant

How to enable quick theft recovery for construction plant and machinery

Nov 2015

With last year being the best year for UK construction figures since 1997, the building industry is expected to be an important component of economic recovery over the next year. Unfortunately, this is put at risk by increasing numbers of theft of plant and machinery from building sites. According to the asset recovery company, CanTrack, every year over a billion euros of plant and machinery is stolen in the EU and the recovery rates for these valuable pieces of construction equipment is exceptionally low in the UK, at less than 5 percent. So, what can be done to combat this spate of construction thefts and enable asset recovery quickly and reliably if the worst happens?...


Tales from The Bridge over the River Severn

From checks in the office to checks on the road, Zosia enters the world not yet known

Nov 2015

I must admit that I felt a little daunted before my first police outing with TER. I had been told to meet Glynne Morgan, one of our plant specialists, and follow him to the police site which was 136 miles away from my house. I had never driven on the motorway and as I started up my twelve year old car, I wondered whether I would ever make it to my destination. Judging by the fact that you are reading this article, we can safely assume that I survived; despite my engine light turning on half way through the journey. I had overcome my first hurdle...


A new vehicle for buying and selling

ConstructionTrader.com is the newly-established worldwide machinery search engine created by Liz Body and her website genius business partner Chris Holloway

Nov 2015

ConstructionTrader.com was born as recently as July 2015 and has international reach, targeting both construction dealers and plant users. With competitive rates, it seeks new buyers and promotes machines for sale. The company's directors have considerable experience of the construction industry and they decided that it would be helpful to provide a holistic service for end-users as well as for dealers. Construction Trader was formed with this specific end in mind and a highly motivated team was recruited to be on-hand to meet the requirements of clients. Construction Traders' primary objective is thus to link customers to the machines they seek...


Budd Plant exporting to Europe

Apart from their impressive UK-wide sales of used plant, equipment and trailers, Bath & Bristol based Budd Plant also export to Europe

Nov 2015

Budd Plant, based between Bristol and Bath, a location with which TER has a particular affinity being originally based in the same locality, specialises in the sale of used plant, equipment and trailers. They supply locally, UK wide and also export to Europe...


Try Lectura's plant and equipment quiz!

Don't wait - you have until the 30th of November to see if you can make it to the top!

Nov 2015

Our partners Lectura are currently hosting a fun quiz which tests your ability to identify different makes of plant. Click below to give it a try and see how high you can rank on the leader board.


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