Brighton Best Strengthening European Presence

Phil Matten

By Phil Matten, Editor
Fastener & Fixing Europe magazine
Editor�s Note: The following column is presented by Fastener & Fixing Europe as part of a news column exchange with FIN.

Brighton Best�s European operation forged a new supply agreement with a Taiwan factory to import a range of inch socket screws, including Series 1936 sizes, direct to Europe. European managing director Ray Southam says, �The new special relationship direct from the YFS Fang Sheng factory places us in a stronger position than ever before across both inch and metric socket screw ranges.�
Brighton Best has supplied European distributors from West Bromwich, England, since 1993. Over the last two years, Brighton Best has launched a series of initiatives to enhance its European product line.
Contrasting fortunes for line feed specialists
While Walters Hexagon explores the advantages of Anixter International ownership, there look to be fewer smiles at Infast Group. �We are very comfortable with Anixter. We can see their reasons for making the acquisition and we know they are not �serial acquirers.� The key to their success has been organic growth,� Walters Hexagon chairman David Woodcock stated after visiting Anixter headquarters in Glenview, IL. �What is so good about Anixter is that it is a distribution business through and through. They understand what distribution is about and have an unbelievably strong balance sheet.�
Both Walters Hexagon and Anixter Pentacon are major suppliers to Cummins in their respective countries. Woodcock noted that an efficient inventory control system is key to meeting demand.
Meantime, Gloucester-based Infast Group issued a second-half profit warning on 31 October, which noted weak autumn sales and difficulties satisfying a major contract.
�This has caused costs to be incurred in obtaining substantial amounts of parts at short notice,� according to the company�s statement.
Infast shares fell to below 30p on news of the predicted �1.1 million impact on the bottom line, and slid to 25p during November. An Infast contract with engine-maker Perkins will be terminated by the third quarter of 2004.
Consolidation Ahead?
Financial analysts at Plimsoll released a report on the UK fastener & fixing market, �Consolidation Ahead?,� which identifies 43 companies as clear takeover targets and 35 more with the capability to be the consolidators. It also figures a third of UK fastener companies are losing money.
Plimsoll announced a �monthly monitoring� subscription service available on CD-ROM that analyses over 900 companies in the UK market.
Evidence of a market shakeout is clear. The �ripple effect� of the Nettlefold closure earlier in 2003 was cited as a significant factor in the failure of manufacturer Aston Screw and Rivet. The voluntary closure of importer Cetomac, though, resulted from a long period of decline. Agrati has withdrawn stockholding from the UK market. The company claims to maintain a UK sales office and will service customers direct from factory.
The comparative value of real estate to current earning potential in fasteners has caused numerous company relocations. Most notable, boltmaker Thomas William Lench has committed to selling the site it has occupied for over 100 years to a housing developer.
Cologne changes after 2004
Practical World will undergo some changes after 2004. The event will be double-branded as the �International Hardware Fair� for the tools, security, locks and fittings sector, and �Practical World� for home improvement and DIY. Organizers hope to refocus the show as a �trade� event after exhibitors raised concerns this year that the line between consumer and user visitors was blurred.
From 2004 the event will be held every two years � a major concession to pivotal exhibitors in several sectors, not just tools and fixings. For the �odd� years Koelnmesse is considering a special Tools Fair. Koelnmesse also emphasized the �internationalization� of the event by announcing a new partnership with the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas and reiterating links with the Taipei International Hardware & DIY Show and its own Practical World Asia in Shanghai.
Cologne remains the major focus for the European fastener and fixing industry.
Fastener & Fixing Europe magazine has committed to the 2004 show with a 200 square metre booth expected to host around a dozen fastener and fixing suppliers. The magazine has also entered into an exclusive agreement with Koelnmesse to run, for the first time, a special showcase booth featuring new products.
Watching the Dollar
The fortunes of the U.S. dollar in 2004 worry European fastener companies. Most European purchases from Asia continue to be in U.S. dollars. To a large extent the fall of the dollar against the Euro and Sterling through 2003 served to disguise growing material, production and freight price pressures from China. Those factors should continue into 2004, but European importers and their customers face cost increases if the dollar remains firm during the first half of the year, then. More problematic is the prospect of a dollar �rebound,� which could accelerate cost increases when there is little margin left to absorb the impact.
Fastener Fair well focused
May 2004 will see the 10th Fastener Fair at a new location � the Telford International Centre, just outside Birmingham, England, and close to Ironbridge, one of the historic origins of the industrial revolution.
Show organizer Jerry Ramsdale is upbeat about bookings for the 2004 Fastener Fair, ahead of the previous year with over 100 reserved stands already.
Fastener Fair 2004 will be held May 16-17. For information contact jerry@fastfair.net or call (44) 1707-882022. \ �2003 FastenerNews.com