Q&A: Marcus Clay
8 September 2023
Marcus Clay is a Director of Digbits, the plant and machinery attachment manufacturer founded by his father John in 1991, and its sibling BAV Crushers business. Marcus is a huge supporter of British engineering.
What was your first job after leaving school?
I always had jobs whilst studying O and A-levels and later whilst at college, but this is my first and only full-time job.
Quite honestly, I was never actually supposed to be doing this. I’d completed two years at what was Manchester Polytechnic to gain an HND in Mechanical Engineering and I’d got a good enough grade to be able to do a conversion year to achieve a BSc. I was offered the opportunity (for free board and a company van) and figured I’d try working with my dad and, if it didn’t work out after a few months, I’d apply to continue my education - but that never happened.
How did the Digbits business come into being?
My father, John, has been in the construction industry all his working life. A brief summary: first with Priestman Bros, then Ruston Bucyrus, followed by JCB, then working for the UK importers of Vermeer trenchers, before setting up a firm to import trenching and tree equipment for a civil engineering contract. It was there in the late 1980s he got the idea – mainly from conversations with customers – that mini excavators were the next big thing and that there was nobody serving the parts and spares market.
How is business at the moment?
Very good but the first four or five months of 2023 were very tough for most of our customers. It was great to meet up with a lot of them at PlantWorx in May and we were delighted that so many of them were busy and placing orders with us.
What are the current main challenges in your market sector?
Over-reliance on artificially cheap Chinese imports.
What legal or regulatory change would help your business or industry generally?
Pre-pandemic, a more pragmatic and long-term anti-subsidy/dumping oversight would have been useful. We are in a different demographic, economic and political place now, so that’s perhaps moot.
Tell me an unusual fact about the business.
Our factory in Rugeley is built on top of a former coal mine. Right on top! One of the pit shaft caps is in the corner of the goods yard.
What annoys or frustrates you?
Negativity.
What was your favourite school subject?
Physics.
If things had been different, what other career might you have chosen?
I’d always wanted to be an automotive engineer. I remember when I was about 13 years old writing to Jaguar at Browns Lane in Coventry to enquire how I might get a job. I wanted to know what subjects to study and I did get a reasonably helpful letter back.
What’s the best piece of advice that you would pass on to others?
No one is more important than the team.
How do you relax after a hard day?
Very simple. Walking the dog, riding my mountain bike or watching live rock/metal music.
What new skill would you like to learn?
I’m inclined to just carry on trying to get better at what I’m already doing. There is nothing I can honestly say I have properly mastered yet.
Do you follow a particular sport and/or team?
I’m very much into downhill mountain biking where the ethos is less partisan – fans get behind the rider’s skill and performance. It’s good if a Brit wins (as they often do) but you appreciate all of the competitors. Similarly with endurance motor racing – the Le Mans and Nurburgring 24 hour races in particular. I don’t so much follow a team as much as the sport itself.
If you could invite three famous people to dinner (past or present) who would you choose?
This is tricky: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Jimi Hendrix and Hans Mezger [the automotive engineer who worked at Porsche].
Finally, any future plans or ambitions for Digbits?
Watch this space.
