Colton Group was formed in the early 70's by Mr Fintan Colton.

Arriving in England in 1954 at the age of 15 from his home town of Cookstown in Ireland Fintan, was one of the original transient muck shifters travelling the length and breadth of the country for many years as a heavy plant operator working on large earthworks and infrastructure Schemes.

He was recognised as Contracts Director material during his time with Merrimans of Leicester and ran several large open cast schemes and Infrastructure projects for them including a 9 mile section of the M40, known locally as Christmas common and included an 180ft deep excavation through pure chalk, he remained with Merrimans for some 15 years before leaving to set up HF Colton Plant Hire Ltd with his wife Jess as a partner.

A very bold initial investment in 4 CAT D8 machines gained him his first contract at a surface mine in Ayshire Scotland for French Kier Mining, which ran for seven years often round the clock, this initial contract saw Fintan on site almost permanently leaving Jess to run the office in Durham.

Fintans son Paul was enlisted as a fitter / spare driver on the Scotland scheme, and so began the very close working relationship between father and son that still exists today.

Colton Group is a true family business, with three generations of Colton family heavily involved in the business Fintans daughter Marian handles company Finances, Paul runs the operational side of the business and the Grandchildren are employed in support roles to the business.

There are very few Plant Hire companies today that can boast the breeding that Colton group is fortunate to have.

Even today Fintan is still very much involved in the business offering advice and unsurpassed knowledge to the Colton team.

Fintans traditional hard working, honest values and hands on management are rewarded by a flow of repeat business from loyal customers, who know that when working with Colton Group, they are in safe and honest hands engaging a company with a commitment to drive their contract forward.