27.08.2024

Name change for Werner

Ladder, mobile tower and low level aerial lift manufacturer WernerCo has changed its name to ProDriven. The company said: "the new name better aligns with our global audience," It will not affect its various product brand names, such as BoSS and Zarges, all of which remain the same.

Managing director Justin White added: “The name change reflects a significant transformation for our company. The new strategic name change reflects our ongoing commitment to innovation, growth, and a diversified product and brand portfolio. As the Werner name has expanded internationally we have built a company with a collection of brands that are longstanding leaders in their respective industries, most notably, BoSS and Zarges. The name ProDriven Global Brands reinforces the fact that as a company we are prepared for the next phase of growth.”

Some History and background:

Founded by R.D. Werner in 1922 as a carpet and flooring supply company, the company took a significant step in 1939 when, anticipating metal shortages as World War II loomed, it became one of the first companies to extrude plastic, serving as a prime contractor for the US Navy. After the war the company began extruding aluminium and making ladders and in the 1950s introduced new ladder designs, including the first no-assembly ladder and the development of fiberglass, all of which were marketed under the Werner Ladder name.

In the early 1960s Werner signed a licence agreement in the Netherlands for its ladders and Aldek scaffold tower range that ended up creating a competitor in the form of Altrex. Werner was acquired in 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 for a while was owned by a group of independent investors, and in 2017 was acquired by funds managed by private equity firm Triton and remains a privately held company.

In the past two decades if has been expanding internationally, by acquiring companies producing aluminium access towers, work platforms, low level work platforms, and fall protection equipment. In 2010 it acquired Abru in the UK, launching numerous new products the following year. In 2024 it made a far more significant move with the acquisition of ladder, alloy scaffold and low level access manufacturer Youngman, gaining its modern Maldon production facility, adding a second UK facility in Burton-Upon-Trent in 2021. In 2018 it acquired leading German ladder, scaffold and low level platform manufacturer Zarges. Other brands acquired over the years have included Duarib in France, Knaack, Weather Guard, Centaure, Haemmerlin and Bailey.

Today the company runs 18 manufacturing and distribution hubs worldwide with 5,000 employees, supplying its products to more than 100 countries.