Soima was founded in Viseu, Portugal, in 1977 by Manuel Morais and his business partners Agostinho Almeida and Serafim Faro, initially to manufacture a variety of construction equipment, including plate rolling machines, presses, overhead traveling cranes, brick layers and concrete mixers.

In 1980, Soima began to manufacture tower cranes exclusively, including hammerhead, flat top and self-erecting cranes. It soon established itself as a leader in the southwestern European tower crane market with sales throughout Portugal, Spain and France.

In the past two decades, Stafford Soima Cranes has gone global. It has produced over 6,600 tower cranes which are represented on every inhabited continent, with distributors now offering 24/7 service throughout the world. Soima’s work has resulted in numerous industry awards in Portugal and globally.

In 2021, Stafford Soima became part of U.S.-based Stafford Crane Group (SCG). Several new Stafford Soima tower crane models are being developed based on SCG’s decades of experience in the rental industry, including new luffer and flat top cranes. Today, from its modern factory in Canas de Senhorim, Portugal, Soima has annual production capacity of 400 tower cranes.