DAB Civil Engineering, part of the Ipswich-based DAB Group, is celebrating 10 years as a Hyundai customer of local dealer Ernest Doe, with the purchase of five new excavators.
The new arrivals are two HX25Az mini excavators (as pictured above), an HX30A and two HX17Az compact excavators. They join an expanding fleet of more than 50 machines as the company strives to meet demand for its services across East Anglia.
“We’ve got a really strong order book for 2025,” says managing director David Bates.
“This latest delivery of machines reinforces our business partnership with Hyundai and with Ernest Doe, after working together for 10 years.”
Bates started the company in 2002, initially operating in the civil engineering sector. At first, the business concentrated on groundworks for house-builders and commercial developers. It has since formed a separate construction division, a scaffolding and roofing company, and a plastering business. DAB has also set up Ruby Homes (East Anglia), as a stand-alone house-builder.
The group now employs more than 100 staff on site, operating a fleet of excavators from 1-tonne micro models, through to a 30-tonne Hyundai HX300A. This includes various minis, 5- and 6-tonne midi excavators, along with larger HX130s, HX145As and HX200 excavators. That fleet has now been joined by the five A-Series machines, all of which have gone straight to work across the company’s sites.
While the largest 30-tonne Hyundai might seem slightly out of place for a house-builder, the company’s civil engineering business has also been undertaking an increasing amount of infrastructure work, including on the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast, for which DAB is undertaking various preparatory contracts.
The HX17A, HX25Az and HX30A minis were launched last year, as part of an eight-model line-up, with operating weights of 1.7 to 5.5 tonnes. In total, Hyundai now offers 12 compact machines from the 1.0-tonne HX10A micro through to the 9-tonne HX85A. The excavators are powered by EU Stage V diesel engines and heavier models feature standard load-sensing hydraulic systems.
