As part of the recent leadership changes at Babcock, Tim Ward has been appointed MD of the Equipment business, effective October 2025. He replaces David Vaughan, who had been in the same role since 2016. Vaughan remains closely connected to the business, having taken on a new position as Executive Chairman of the Equipment business. In his new capacity, he will continue to guide and support the business until his planned retirement in October 2026, ensuring a seamless leadership transition in the process.
Ward, who has been the financial director of the Equipment business since 2003 and served under seven previous MDs, brings not only strong commercial insight, but also a deep understanding of the business and the yellow metal equipment sector in general. Born in the UK, Ward graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree and went on to become a salesman in the pump sector.
During his time in the pump industry, he was introduced to finance and quickly developed a strong interest, leading to a career switch. His first accounting role came at the age of 26, and by 30, he was already a financial director for a yellow metal equipment company based in the UK.
In 1997, he was deployed to work in South Africa by his UK company and never looked back. He later joined Babcock’s Equipment business in 2002, initially in a business development capacity, before landing the financial directorship role the following year, a position he held until his recent appointment as MD.
In his new role, he takes responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Equipment business and is responsible for creating and implementing strategies to achieve growth and meet company objectives. In addition, he is also responsible for the strategic management of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partnerships with Babcock’s principals such as Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE), Sennebogen and BULL.
“My role also entails active involvement in fostering a company-wide customer-oriented culture. Customer interactions are something that I am already familiar with from my previous role as financial director. The biggest change, however, is the people aspect – overseeing the human resources function, approving key hiring decisions, overseeing performance management frameworks and ensuring the retention of personnel,” explains Ward.
Key focus areas
Speaking to Quarrying Africa, Ward highlights that one of his immediate objectives is to grow market share for the BULL brand. Since taking over the distributorship of BULL backhoe loaders and skid steers in July 2023, Babcock has put the brand on a growth trajectory, but Ward believes that there is potential to gain even more market share.
Despite the competitive nature of the market, with more than 24 brands competing for market share, backhoe and skid steer loaders remain high-volume units in the South African equipment market. To provide context, available industry figures show that the backhoe loader market ranges between 1 600 and 1 700 units per annum, with skid steer loaders in the region of 300-350 units per year, based on CONMESA figures.
In BULL, he says, Babcock has a great product to challenge for more market share. Having first entered the market in November 2011, BULL is said to be the youngest and fastest growing backhoe loader manufacturer in the global market. Within a span of a decade, the brand is now among the top three backhoe loader manufacturers in India, demonstrating its competitive edge in the backhoe and skid steer market.
Ward’s tenure also coincides with the arrival of an array of new Volvo products. In fact, Volvo CE has renewed over 35% of its total product range in the past year, marking the company’s largest product portfolio renewal in decades. While some of the new products such as the New Generation Volvo articulated haulers and the new F-Series excavators have already been rolled out in southern Africa, Ward says more are still to come in a staged approach.
“We have already introduced the first three models of the New Generation range of articulated dump trucks (ADTs), namely the A40, A45 and A50. Next year, we will be rolling out the A30 and the A60,” says Ward. “Having been launched globally in September this year, the new generation Volvo wheel loaders are set to arrive in November this year. One of the key objectives is to ensure the immediate success of these new products in the market.”
Commenting on the uptake of the ADTs, Ward says customers in southern Africa have shown significant interest in the range. One of the central pillars of the early interest has been the technological advancements that speak directly to better productivity and efficiency.
“In an environment where data-driven decisions continue to take root, the new Volvo ADTs place high value on ‘Connected Solutions’ – a suite of digital services and on-board technologies that use real-time data and telematics to improve productivity, efficiency, safety and maintenance. Customers are also particularly impressed by technological options such as the OEM proximity detection system (PDS) interface and On-Board Weighing,” says Ward.
Trends
Commenting on some trends driving the local yellow metal equipment market, Ward notes the growing uptake of ‘value’ products – machinery that emphasises price competitiveness and sufficient functionality for the required task, rather than the most advanced technologies found in premium offerings.
Through its range of value-brand offerings, Babcock provides fit-for-purpose solutions for customers seeking cost-efficient equipment options in emerging market segments. Through Volvo Financial Services, customers have access to fast and flexible finance solutions that speak directly to their needs.
Another notable trend is the fact that the industry is grappling with the dearth of technical skills, says Ward, adding that it is difficult to retain technicians due to a combination of a significant skills mismatch and a high rate of brain drain, where skilled professionals are continuously seeking better opportunities abroad.
To help plug the skills gap, Babcock invests in skills through a comprehensive apprenticeship programme that combines structured theoretical training with extensive practical workplace experience in order to develop a skilled and dedicated workforce. This initiative not only nurtures talent but also helps address skills gaps in the industry.
“We play an active role in the development of our own people through a good training institution that trains our own apprentices whereby we take between 20 and 40 apprentices every year. During the last intake, we were able to retain almost the whole intake. Where we do not retain, we offer these skills to the industry, especially our customers. We have successfully done this since the early 2000s and some of the initial apprentices have now progressed through the business and occupy middle to senior management positions,” explains Ward.
Rental and service contracts
Another notable trend, adds Ward, is the growing uptake of service contracts. Capital equipment owners, he says, now prefer service contracts primarily for the predictability, risk reduction and operational efficiency they offer. These contracts shift the burden of maintenance and unexpected repairs to a service provider, allowing the owner to focus on their core business operations.
“In recent times, we have been successful with our service contracts, which we take as the first stage of the relationship with the customer. We are taking it to another level with Volvo ACTIVE CARE, which allows us to flag potential problems before they happen,” he says.
Traditionally, with CareTrack, Volvo CE’s telemetry platform, the customer is alerted every time a machine fault code goes off – no matter how critical or not – and it is up to them to contact the dealer with the alarm details and monitor progress. ACTIVE CARE takes the burden of monitoring and initial diagnosis off the customer, who is only notified when a specific action is necessary. With ACTIVE CARE, Babcock manages the data on behalf of the customer, providing remote diagnosis and catching problems before they occur.
Another trend that Ward has observed is the growing used machine market in Africa. After renting their assets for the first life, several rental companies in South Africa have found a thriving market for their used machines in countries such as Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, amongst others.
To meet specific customer needs, Ward tells Quarrying Africa that Babcock has just started offering Volvo CE’s Equipment as a Service (EaaS) solution. EaaS is a long-term, fleet-based service where customers do not buy a machine but rather purchase hours from the supplier to use it. It is a tailor-made service because one uses the fleet when and where they need it, with all necessary support included and managed by Babcock.
A key aspect of EaaS is the ‘pay as you go’ concept. There is no up-front investment required, plus it is scalable. “Essentially, customers purchase a set number of operating hours for the equipment at a fixed hourly rate, paying only for the time they actually use it. EaaS has been a successful concept in Europe, and we believe it will generate interest locally, particularly from those who do not want to hold assets on the balance sheet,” explains Ward.
State of market
Commenting on the state of the market, Ward says despite the marked dip in commodity prices, especially coal, the local equipment market generally remains resilient, as has been the case during the past three to four years.
“The coal industry is a big recipient of our machines. With export volumes under pressure, customers are generally in cost-cutting mode. However, Eskom remains a major consumer of coal locally for its power stations, and I believe that coal exports can be the ‘cream on the top’ for local producers, which gives the industry the edge to survive the tide of low coal prices,” says Ward.
Apart from coal, Ward says other commodity areas such as chrome and gold are doing well. In fact, gold prices hit record highs in 2025, surpassing the US$4 000 per ounce mark in October. “The gold industry is enjoying a bull run, and we find gold reclamation to be quite a good sector at the moment. The chrome industry, despite the closure of smelters, is also enjoying a good run,” says Ward.
Looking ahead, Ward expects the market to see improved conditions next year, most likely from the second quarter onwards. “This is premised on the outlook that coal prices will rebound and smelters will be turned back on,” says Ward.
As he steps into his new role, Ward is focused on building on Babcock’s strong foundation and purpose-led approach. “Our business has always been defined by trusted partnerships, technical capability and customer uptime. That won’t change,” he says. “What will continue to evolve is how we deliver lifetime value – through new products, digital solutions and skilled people who go the distance for our customers. I am confident that, together with our OEM partners and our teams across southern Africa, we will continue to engineer progress that lasts –for our customers, our people and the industries we serve.”
