Positive local news from Brammer as it opens European divisional office
BRAMMER, the supplier of industrial tools and components, is establishing a new centre of excellence at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire just months after it announced it was closing down its Buck & Hickman subsidiary in nearby Coventry.
The new centre will employ around 30 staff. It will look after its European tools and general maintenance division, serving 19 countries
A team of ten staff will also produce the company’s two major catalogues which are distributed to its more than 100,000 customers throughout its European markets.
Nigel Banks, Brammer’s European commercial director, tools & general maintenance, said it is beneficial having all staff working for the division housed in one office.
“Our work has grown significantly in recent years and it made sense for several reasons to have our own base.
“We wanted a suitable location and environment for our staff and somewhere we could invite clients, and Stoneleigh fitted on all counts,” he said.
“It is great for our staff to all be working in the same location and we have got up and running very quickly.
“The team at Stoneleigh was extremely flexible and allowed us to move in very efficiently and ensure we continued to operate throughout.”
The team will move to a new building on the Stoneleigh site in Spring next year when renovation and refurbishment has been completed.
Brammer was established in 1920 and now employs more than 3,200 staff.
Colin Hooper, estates director at Stoneleigh Park, said: “Brammer is a world-renowned company and it is great for Stoneleigh it chose us as the location for this new office.
“It wanted to be up and running immediately, and we have met that requirement while we create a permanent new home for the team.
“We have a host of leading names at Stoneleigh and Brammer is another high-profile, international firm based here, which can only be good for the regional economy.”
In June Brammer announced it was proposing to close its Buck & Hickman subsidiary in Coventry, which employed 185 people.
The Manchester-based group said it had entered into a 45 day consultation with staff over the proposed consolidation of the Coventry site into its Wolverhampton distribution centre and Wythenshawe head office.
Brammer, which operates from some 300 locations in 15 countries, acquired Coventry-based tool business Buck & Hickman – one of the city’s oldest manufacturers – in 2011.
In July Brammer reported strong half-year results. Stripping out £5.3m of acquisition-related exceptional costs Brammer’s underlying profits in the six months to the end of June rose 15.1% to £17.5m.
The addition of seven businesses, including the strategic swoop for Scandinavia-based Lönne, helped deliver revenue growth of 10.9% to £364.1m.
