Specialist manufacturer announces trans-Atlantic expansion
OE Electrics, a Wakefield-based manufacturer of data distribution and power solutions, is expanding into North America.
The company has launched a new North American business – OE Electrics Inc. and made two senior appointments. John Corner joins as sales manager and Michael O’Keefe joins as product manager. The pair have decades of combined experience working with furniture manufacturers and dealers in the USA.
“We’re fortunate that we are already familiar with the North American electrical market,” said OE Electrics’ co-founder and technical director, Tim Hobbs.
“Many of our European furniture partners export to the USA or have operations in the States already, so we have several products already UL listed to comply with USA electrical codes. This means we can support furniture manufacturers with a global supply chain wherever they sell their products.
“Our long-term objective is to partner with North American furniture manufacturers to design and make our next generation of products and John and Michael will play pivotal roles in helping us achieve this,” he added.
John Corner
In June, the company will be exhibiting at Neocon in Chicago, one of the world’s most prominent commercial furniture exhibitions, to launch its new venture and introduce its products to North America.
OE Electrics already operates across three continents, supplying its products to over 60 countries and employs 200 staff. Its products can be found in offices, call centres, hospitals, airports, hotels, cafés, shopping malls, sports centres and many other environments across the globe.
The company has manufacturing sites in the UK, Australia and Germany along with a sales office in Dubai and a global distributor network in countries including New Zealand, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Malta and Poland.
France, Germany, Ireland and Dubai are some of OE Electrics’ more established export markets, with growth in several new markets over the past three years including Finland, Spain and China. International markets account for almost half of the company’s turnover.
The business has ambitious plans to continue its growth for the next five years, including diversification into new market sectors within established territories and expansion into additional geographic markets.
