09.10.2011

Werner Ladder moves into UK

US based Werner Ladder is launching around 100 products onto the UK market through Abru, the company it acquired in April last year

The products it is launching on November 1st will include stepladders, combination ladders, loft ladders, extension ladders, roof ladders and work platforms. Including both fibreglass swingback and platform stepladders, which, consistent with the rest of the range, will be available as either ‘trade’ or ‘industrial’ and comply with all the relevant UK and European standards, in particular BS EN131.

It also boasts the company’s Lock-In System that accepts a range of accessories designed for convenience and to boost safety and productivity when working at height. The accessories – which store and cater for anything from power and hand tools to paint sprayers and paint -substantially reduce the number of trips required up and down a ladder.
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Werner's Blue and Yellow fibreglass step ladders

Ed Gericke, Werner’s executive vice president of sales and marketing said: “This is a logical and natural next step for the Werner brand. We believe we have something new and different to offer that will quickly find favour with UK trade professionals. We have total confidence in our products and their ability to help make the work of trade professionals safer, easier and more productive.”

“We firmly believe that the Werner range represents the future of ladders in the UK market.”
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Pennsylvania based Werner was established in 1922 and claims to be the world’s largest ladder manufacturer. The company has operated in Europe before, having signed a licence agreement for its Aldek scaffold tower range in the early 1960’s that created the Altrex brand of mobile towers. The company was acquired in the late 1997 by a private equity firm – Investcorp but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006 due to its huge debt pile. The company emerged from that experience and is today owned by a group of investors. I acquired Abru, one of the UK’s leading ladder producers in April 2010.