Street Crane was founded 75 years ago by Peter Street, grandfather of William Street, and father of current chairman Martin Street. The group now employs 350 people across six sites and is a major exporter of hoists and crane components through a global network of 120 partners.
Will has spent the past five years working in accountancy and business finance at Sheffield-based BHP, where he gained his ACCA qualification.
“Being at BHP enabled me to see a broad range of different businesses, both manufacturing and other. Being able to see which processes worked and didn’t work well at those companies will help me form ideas which can hopefully be implemented in the future at Street Crane to help keep us growing and being successful. By working in finance and accounts you really begin to see the bigger picture of a business and how everything links together, enabling you to spot trends and potential issues early,” said Will.
Will first gained experience of working at Street Crane in his university gap year when he took on a job in the packing and shipping department. Here, he successfully designed and implemented a new packing system: “I am looking forward to the challenge of learning all aspects of the business. The recent launch of Eazycrane, a software-based crane design, estimating and manufacturing package, shows that Street Crane embraces technology and new ideas to stay ahead of the competition. This makes it an exciting time to be part of the team that is driving the company’s success.”
Martin Street said: “It gives me immense pleasure and pride to see Will join the business as the third generation Street to do so. I hope he will enjoy a long association with the great people and clients who he will be working with at Street Crane in the UK and also throughout the world via our distributing partners.
“I am sure Will’s grandfather would be so proud that his grandson has joined the business he created. Post-war it was all about making a better future for everyone. For Will’s generation, post-Covid, it will be the same again. The engineering and manufacturing industries are vital to the future UK economy—creating jobs, skills training, research and development.”
Will added: “What both my grandfather and father have achieved is nothing short of phenomenal. With my grandfather starting off repairing and servicing cranes in Sheffield in the 1940s and then my father turning it into the global supplier you see today, one day it will now hopefully be me helping to take Street Crane to the next level.”
Remote specification
In early 2020, Street Crane launched its Eazycrane system—a web-based software tool to help independent crane makers to calculate the exact specifications required for each installation project.
“Interestingly, we couldn’t have known the extent to which remote working would become important when we started developing Eazycrane,” said managing director Gus Zona. “The software enables our global distributors to speed through millions of crane calculations and design scenarios to produce complete crane specifications, quotations, bill of materials, drawings and detailed manufacturing drawings in one easy integrated process. Eazycrane reduces the design time for cranes to minutes rather than days. Importantly, the software is available through any device wherever with an internet connection.”
The tool has helped smaller independent crane makers across the world to compete with the larger multi-national companies, says Street Crane. To further assist with this aim, the company has developed modular hoists and advanced crane controls that can be easily exported across the world.
