John Sutch Cranes kicked off Christmas in Manchester as we expertly manoeuvred Giant Santa into pole position overlooking the city.
Crowds gathered outside Central Library at St Peter’s Square for the big reveal as our team installed Manchester’s festive mascot bit-by-bit.
While it was a pretty standard lift for our experts, there was plenty of Christmas cheer, as our operations became the centre of attention as Santa was safely hoisted from his sleigh into a position of prominence and on view for thousands of shoppers and commuters.
Weighing in at more than 2.3 tonnes and standing at a whopping 12 metres tall, Giant Santa took just over an hour to piece together as our Liebherr LTF1045-4.1 placed him carefully for the full Christmas calendar.
John Sutch Cranes continue to be the go-to crane company for Manchester City Council following our work at Manchester Town Hall, the venue where our team have been working over the course of 2023 for global contractors, Lendlease.
The Big Man is powered by low-energy LED light bulbs and will make up part of the trail of light sculptures in place until after the New Year.
The trail of giant baubles, stars and bees will go from Winter Gardens (Piccadilly Gardens), to Cathedral Gardens, Exchange Square, Brazennose Street, Albert Square and St Peter’s Square.
John Sutch, John Sutch Cranes Managing Director, said: “We’re a company that constantly puts back into the community. We’ve done these types of lifts for the past 50 years in many different places across the country – where we can make a difference we absolutely do it.
“Christmas is a time for giving and that’s not lost on us through the work we do with Christies Hospital and many other local initiatives we’ve been involved with in 2023. We were pleased we can help on this occasion, putting a smile on the faces of people in Manchester as the city gears up for busy festive celebrations.”
Our team will be back in the New Year to dismantle the structure and help store Giant Santa away for another year.