STANLEY, United Kingdom — The Tanfield Group recently reached an agreement to acquire the powered access division of UpRight International, Tanfield officials said. The purchase agreement is subject to a 30-day statutory consultation with UpRight employees.
Tanfield, based in Stanley, United Kingdom, is a manufacturer of electric vehicle and aerial equipment. It owns access platform manufacturer Aerial Access.
UpRight, once a significant player in the global powered access market, manufacturing a range of scissorlifts, articulated booms, vertical extending masts and sigma arm lifts, has seen volume and profits decline in recent years from more than $200 million in sales in 2000, to about $50 million currently. It manufactures powered access platforms and scaffolding at its factory in Dublin.
Tanfield will assume the rights to manufacture all UpRight scissorlifts and booms under the UpRight brand, and will also acquire UpRight's existing distribution and sales companies in Japan and the United States.
Under the agreement, UpRight will retain production and distribution of its UpRight Aluminum Tower Systems brand.
“Tanfield's existing Aerial Access range of trailer and truck mounts will be a great fit with UpRight's product portfolio of scissorlifts and self-propelled booms,” said Darren Kell, business development director for The Tanfield Group. “This means we can now offer clients a total powered access solution. From a production perspective, there are also obvious economies of scale and cost savings in terms of production synergies, shared components and having one design and management team.”
