23.02.2005

UpRight appoint Master Distributor

UpRight International Manufacturing Ltd has appointed the newly formed and independently owned Ui Districenter BV, of Dordrecht, The Netherlands as its master distributor for Holland and Belgium.

The New company is registered at the chamber of commerce in the sole name of Arjan Roelse, previously sales manager for Peinemann/Instant Rotterdam the UpRight dealer for the Rotterdam region, Roelse would not comment on any other partners or sources of funding.

Ui Districenter has placed a large stock order, “exceeding two million euros”, for a full range of machines as well as spare parts and alloy towers. The company intends to hold a large inventory in order to not only supply customers and dealers in its area with off the shelf availability, but also to provide a service for distributors in other areas, should they wish to benefit from shorter delivery times when backlogs from the production plants are long.

The new company has already moved into premises previously used by the European distribution centre for Aichi when Riwal were master dealer for that brand. The building is on the other side of the road to Riwals main facility and HQ. Three fully employed staff members are already on board while recruitment continues, Roelse stated that he was in discussion with a number of Ex UpRight employees.

John Coughlan, President and General Manager of UpRight International said “ The whole intent of this move is to expand the service we offer in the area to both the existing customer base as well as to grow this with the addition of new customers”

Arjan Roelse said: “Our focus now is the Netherlands and Belgium, but when and where we can help UpRight dealers in other countries we will of course do so”.

When asked who was funding the new venture, Coughlan said: “ We have carried out a thorough check and looked at the funding sources and are happy that the new operation is sufficiently well funded to carry out its role”

Vertikal Comment

This is likely to be a positive move for UpRight if all works out as planned. Holland is an excellent location for a strategic stock, which this could easily become.

Assuming that the venture is well funded, which we believe it is, then the advantage for potential customers and other dealers is that they will have significantly improved availability with, one imagines, a larger and faster parts service. Dutch sales companies in the access distribution/rental business also have a reputation for being easy to deal with, especially when compared to most Manufacturers.

The key to the wider success of the venture will be how it is accepted by the UpRight dealers and major accounts that the master territory covers.