Crook rejoins UpRight

Gary Crook has left JLG and rejoined UpRight as senior design engineer, responsible for developing UpRight's design team in the US.

Crook originally joined UpRight in July 1995 and he was responsible for designing the AB46 self–propelled boom and played a key role in producing the SB80 boom and X26 narrow scissor. He left UpRight in April 2004 to join JLG Industries.

“UpRight has always had a reputation of innovation for productivity–enhancing designs”, said Crook, “I was fortunate enough to be a part of that culture and I intend to revive it.”

He said his focus would be to build a US design team to support the production of existing machines and to reintroduce other models; “Our mantra will be ‘Keep it Simple’, by only using technologies appropriate to our customers’ capabilities. All too often, access manufacturers are introducing technology for technology's sake, rather than improving the product.”

Darren Kell, chief executive of UpRight, said the appointment was a significant step forward; “Not only is Gary one of the best design engineers in the industry, but he also has a huge tacit knowledge base and level of expertise in the entire UpRight product portfolio.”

Read our full report on UpRight's ambitions for the US in this issue.