27.11.2015

Dingli appoints Andy Northwood

Chinese aerial lift manufacturer Dingli has appointed access industry veteran Andy Northwood to represent it directly in the UK.

He is Dingli’s first European sales representative, and will work directly with major rental companies, while setting up a sales and service organisation to provide replacement parts, warranty and after sales service.

Northwood started his access career with Benford in 1983, helping build a market in the UK for its large scissor lifts. He moved to Bronto Skylift UK in 1992, initially as sales manager and later as managing director. In 1996 he co-founded Blue Line Access which took over the Bronto distribution – following the manufacturer’s acquisition by US based Federal Signal.

In 2003 he co-founded Ascendant Access to produce a totally new range of UK built vehicle mounted aerial lifts and sold its products through Blueline. When the recession hit in 2008, Blueline closed its doors and Northwood helped Facelift sell used equipment from its rental fleet, and then the a year or so later launched HAB scissor lifts on the UK market, with some notable success, until it stopped production a couple of years ago. Since then he has been working with both Hy-Brid Access Platforms helping launch its range of low level lifts, and GSR truck mounted lifts where he works with a handful of key accounts.
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Andy Northwood (R) confirming a 100 unit Custom Hybrid sale with Danny Riley of Speedy at Vertikal Days 2014

Speaking of his new role at Dingli, Northwood said: “Dingli is a progressive and ambitious manufacturer which has made substantial investments in both product development and a new 140,000 square metre state of the art manufacturing facility, and I have no doubt that the quality and specification of Dingli products is competitive with any other aerial lift manufacturer in the world”.

“There are some preconceptions that need addressing but I am excited by the opportunity to expand our existing UK customer base, all of whom tell me that they have had a very positive experience of Dingli products, while establishing an effective after sales parts and service network”.

Dingli vice president sales Harry Chen added: “Andy is our first European sales representative, he is well known in the AWP industry, and we believe that he will support our customers in the country, especially rental companies. At the same time, we are currently looking for more colleagues to join us in other European markets”.