Simon Pollard, previously managing director and a shareholder of long term Mori Seiki agent Fredk Pollard, Leicester, is the new owner of Kyal Machine Tools, Stamford, Lincs.
Mr Pollard acquired the business from previous owner Ken Waudby, who set the company up 21 years ago and has decided to retire. Kyal is the UK agent for Austria’s WFL mill-turn machines and Germany’s Weiler manual, combination and CNC lathes. All existing staff remain with Kyal Machine Tools.
In September last year, the assets of Fredk Pollard were acquired by Mori Seiki and the company became MS Pollard, now Mori Seiki UK.
The initial task for Mr Pollard is to visit existing Kyal customers, but he believes an expansion of WFL mill-turn machine sales is possible from the current levels, particularly for the ‘smallest’ machines in the range, the 420 mm swing over slide M35 and 520 mm swing over slide M40.
“Sales of mill-turn machines continue to rise,” says Mr Pollard, who estimates the UK market size to be around 40-50 machines of this size annually. WFL itself has grown from a €5 million operation in 1993 to €70 million this year, he underlines.
Kyal's new owner also believes that while Weiler CNC/manual combination machines have found a market in the UK, particularly in the oil and gas sector, that there’s potential for increased CNC model sales – high precision turning is the target for these 42 and 66 mm bar diameter machines.
|