Solid organic growth plus the acquisition of aerial work platform manufacturer UpRight boosted the profits of Tanfield Group in 2006.
United Kingdom-based Tanfield Group manufacturers zero-emissions vehicles as well. Its two main divisions are Smith Electric Vehicles and UpRight Powered Access. The company is planning a major push into the North American market over the next year with both divisions.
UpRight has a new U.S. headquarters in Madera, Calif., and has an order backlog of more than $1 million per week, the company said, with a number of new products lined up to be aimed specifically at the U.S. market. UpRight has a worldwide forward order book of more than 35 million pounds (nearly U.S. $69 million). The company recently won contracts to supply a U.K. rental company with more than 2 million pounds worth of units, and has more than 1,300 machines slated for the Benelux region of Europe.
UpRight’s global network of distributors increased from 15 to 150 in six months, UpRight officials said. Tanfield acquired UpRight in June 2006.
Tanfield Group said its 2006 volume was about 40.9 million pounds (U.S. $80.3 million), an 82.6 percent increased year over year. Its profit jumped 75 percent from about 2 million pounds to about 3.5 million pounds.
