07.02.2006

Altrex opens Swedish depot

Altrex has cancelled its Swedish dealer and set up Altrex Svenska AB under Jan Bratowski, previously general manager of JLG Sverige. He will formally join the new operation in April.

Prior to joining JLG Bratowski's sales and rental company distributed Climalloy scaffold towers in Sweden, he also worked with a previous Altrex Svenska in the 1980’s.

Richard Doek, CEO of Altrex said "It is with great joy that we welcome Jan Bratowski back to Altrex Svenska AB, and, as the CEO. His vast experience is of great importance to us particularly now, as Altrex prepares to launch its full product range to the Scandinavian Markets - a market where competition is tough. We know that Altrex has great potential and we believe that having Jan Bratowski in the company will strengthen our market position."

Vertikal Comment

This is not the first time Altrex has had a Swedish subsidiary, in the 1980’s and early 90’s it was market leader in alloy scaffold towers in Scandinavia with over 40% share of market. However it steadily declined particularly after it closed its operations in the region, when it pulled back in to the Benelux markets.

A series of unsuccessful distribution attempts has resulted in the market share slipping to an all time low, with most scaffold towers in Sweden purchased by rental companies, many who have now moved on to other systems, it will not be easy for them. Many of those buyers will wonder if history might not repeat itself.

Bratowski is a good man and knows the scaffold market well, but he will have an uphill struggle to cover his costs in the first year or to at least. The question is how ready are rental companies in this relatively mature market to swap out their systems for Altrex?