Home is where heart is for MD Jerry

DERKER is a long way from New York but the Prince of Wales Business Centre in Vulcan Street is where Jerry Hanss has established his burgeoning business.

The 40-year-old is the managing director of Lift Safe Ltd., a specialist in materials-handling solutions. His background in the industry with market leader Ingersoll Rand — initially in finance and later in sales and marketing — led him to Europe with his previous employers.

When he was offered a full-time post with the company “at any European base that had a major international airport” Jerry considered the relative merits or Rome, Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris . . . and opted for Manchester.

For home is where the heart is and Jerry had met the love of his life — now his wife — in the city and the family are now settled in Springhead. In 2000, he set up Lift Safe Ltd in a 1,000 sq ft unit in Pennant Street to go it alone.

In those early days, the one-man business sold power-assisted handling equipment as well as a wide range of custom-made electric vehicles.

The major markets were the health sector, local authorities and airports.

After years of working long days to establish Lift Safe Ltd as a major player, Jerry has hit the headlines with his latest product — the world’s first road-legal golf buggy. A low-cost alternative to electric and hybrid cars, the EMerge electric vehicle has arrived in the UK.

Jerry said: “The buggy has a top speed of 25mph and a range of 30 miles on a full battery charge. It is aimed at specific, lower mileage applications and at less than 4p per mile to run, it is the most cost-effective green vehicle on the market.

“Golf buggies are very low cost and fun vehicles to drive, but until now they have not met the appropriate safety standards for road use outside America.

“Our EMerge ticks all the right boxes for road safety and is still a very cost-competitive product. We think there is a substantial niche market for this type of vehicle.

“It is designed for very specific applications — and it is the most efficient, cost-effective, clean and green vehicle for those applications.”

He is hoping that EMerge can replicate the success of low-speed, Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) in North America. In states like California and Florida, the buggies are used as second or third cars, perfect for short trips to the shops or the work commute.

Lift Safe Ltd has secured full EU approval for EMerge as a road-going passenger vehicle, after adding a number of safety features to the basic golf buggy chassis, which is already a successful product in the USA.

Jerry’s engineers have also fitted some additional features to combat the British weather, including an onboard heater and all-weather enclosure. Almost all large sites such as ports, airports, hospitals, universities and army bases have road-going vehicles that never leave the campus.

The US military has announced it is investing millions of dollars in a fleet of 4,000 low-speed electric vehicles for on-base transport, which will save the armed forces an estimated 50 million litres of fuel every year.

“EMerge is designed for closed-site environments, where a lot of vehicles spend their whole working lives in an area measuring just a few square miles,” said Jerry.

He added: “In these circumstances, it really does not make economic or environmental sense to use a petrol or diesel-powered vehicle.”

The roadworthy buggy is around £6,000-£10,000.