After more than 25 years with the FASSI brand, Tony Hitchcock is retiring from Walker Crane Services.
Back in the mid-90s Fassi was not so widely known & Tony established our brand in the southeast when every call was a cold call.
He was bold, persistent & persuasive.
A favourite story from these early days is Tony & big Ron driving round with the exhibition trailer loaded with FASSI cranes & blocking the entrance to prospective customers yards ….. refusing to move it until the boss had come out & had a look at what we had to offer, by which point Tony had them hooked.
Hand in hand with Walker Cranes, Tony’s tenacious approach increased sales year on year with some major milestones along the way. He went past 100 cranes per year in 2014, his 1,000th crane in 2016 & leaves us with a career total of 1,700 cranes shipped. The Harry Kane of cranes.
His never say die attitude saw him bring many a sale back from the dead earning his nickname of the Phoenix. Calm under pressure, wise with his council, influential amongst the other dealers, a master of being equitable to both Walkers & FASSI in every situation, I always knew Tony had my back.
The final part of an illustrious career is to leave your legacy in good hands. With Paul & Danny Jnr & the loyalty of so many customers he has done just that.
A great personality, a true friend & an unrivalled professional in the field of sales, we will not see the like of Tony again. We have been blessed to work with him & he will be missed by all at Fassi UK, the factory, our dealers & customers.
Leigh Carter
Managing Director
