30.07.2009

Valla and Valla UK part company

Italian pick & carry crane manufacturer Valla, has parted company with its long time UK distributor Valla UK. Valla UK and more recently Compact Lifting Equipment is owned and managed by Peter Hird who has worked with Valla for 11 years or so.

Hird has built the Valla brand and developed a market for the company’s products through stocking new machines, making the available for rent and heavily marketing both the product and the concept.

For many years Valla UK has been Valla’s largest distributor and was given the North American distribution rights in 2006 along with the Middle East.
See Valla UK spreads its wings

Peter Hird declined to comment the reasons behind the split, although we understand that relations between the two companies have been difficult since Valla lost its long time general manager Maurizio Manzini around 18 months or so ago. Since then Antonio Valla, a lawyer, has managed the business from his base in California.

Antonio’s father John moved the family to Fresno California in the early 1960’s but kept the production facility in Italy, eventually handing over the day to day management of it to Manzini.

John Valla died in late 2005 leaving Antonio as head of the family with responsibility for the family firm.

We have not heard yet if Valla is ready to appoint a new distributor or what its plans are.

Vertikal Comment

This appears to be a mutual parting of the ways, following a couple of challenging years in which the relationship between the two companies would have been stretched. First of all by the inability of the manufacturer to ramp up production to keep pace with demand or to invest in new products fast enough for the growing market…

Followed by falling sales as the economy slowed and possibly frustration on the manufacturer’s part at the fact that Valla UK’s sister company CLE purchased sold and rented Jekko cranes.

In spite of these frustrations this will not be good for either party – both will loose from this break up. One has to assume that both have done all they can to try and hold on to the relationship?