Hubbway Plant Hire invest in Xwatch

Hubbway Ltd was founded in 1965 by George Hubb. The business was originally located in Ellington, next to one of the largest deep coal mines in the UK.

Hubbway has since grown into one of the largest privately owned Plant Hire Companies, based in Cramlington, in the North East, headed up by Managing Director, Nick Hubb, who is George’s son. The company hire all types of plant, tools and equipment Nationwide.

Hubbway Plant Hire, Director, Phil Hickey (pictured) is responsible for the plant and equipment at the hire firm, which has an impressive fleet of over 150 excavators ranging from a 1 tonne mini up to 30 tonne heavy line machines.

Hubbway ran height & slew safety systems from a competitors brand before adopting Xwatch as its preferred system. Dan Leaney, Xwatch Safety Solution’s Sales and Operations Director contacted Phil at Hubbway just over two years ago when the Xwatch business was in its infancy.

Phil commented, “I had heard some very good things about the Xwatch system on the industry grape vine. When Dan got in touch I was very open to trying the system. We ordered an XW4 system, which monitors height and slew, which was then installed on a 17tonne Hitachi wheeled excavator.”

“I was very impressed with the system – it was easy to operate, which was one of the first things I noticed. It was also very intuitive and represented value for money” Added Phil

Hubbway Hire supply machines to key blue chip companies including leading tier one contractors where onsite safety is a priority – all the company’s machines are ‘Highways Spec’.

“Ease of use and reliability is an important factor, when out on hire” said Phil. “With Xwatch – you don’t need any previous experience of using this system – it’s self-explanatory. In the past I have had operators on the phone asking me to talk them through a competitors system, but I can honestly say I have not had one phone call about using the Xwatch – the operator can get in the cab set the limits and off they go! More complicated systems waste time and can have serious safety implications if overridden, because the operator can’t make it work!”




To date Hubbway has purchased 30 XW4 and XW5 systems fitted to a range of machines, both wheeled and tracked excavators, including Hitachi, Hyundai, Kubota and Yanmar, with another six systems on order.

The XW5 offers total protection and is a RCI, a rated capacity indicator, that ensures the safe operation of lifting equipment throughout the machine’s working envelope. The system continually measures the height, radius and load on the machine, allowing operators to work at the maximum lifting capacity whilst remaining within the machine’s safe working load (SWL).




Phil continued, “We have a very good working relationship with Xwatch and the service is excellent. This combined with value for money, reliability and ease of use, makes for a very good combination.”

Phil concluded, “K&W Mechanical Services and Hargreaves have installed the systems on our machines, and again, this was done to a high standard and we are very happy with the service. We look forward to working with Xwatch and the team moving forward.”

Xwatch Sales and Operations Director, Dan Leaney commented, “We were delighted to be able to supply Xwatch systems to Hubbway providing a simpler and more reliable solution for the company’s hire fleet. We understand that ‘ease of use’ is an important factor when supplying machines to the hire sector- down time and idling costs money. With the Xwatch suite of safety systems even the most inexperienced of operators can make it work – vastly improving site safety.”

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