Hot on the heels of opening a new training and service site in Scotland, Makita is celebrating its 45th anniversary of the establishment of its UK sales, training and distribution centre.
In a period that has seen the sector transition from 100% mains to 60/40 in favour of cordless, Makita said it has had an unbroken record of annual sales growth confirming “the Makita brand is market leader in the UK’s competitive professional power tool league”.
Just two years ago Makita worldwide celebrated another milestone – a century since the Company’s foundation in 1915 at Anjo, Japan.
“The Makita philosophy has always been ‘customer service first and foremost’ and to meet the aspirations of the end user first, then our dealers and then finally us as the manufacturer,” explained Barry Smart, National Sales Manager at Makita UK. “Our market has evolved since 1972 when it was 100% mains until today where it is 60/40 in favour of cordless machines. Our forecasts are for continued growth in cordless; our Twin battery 36v machines meet end user requirements for power and performance and this is expanding quickly in our horticultural range. Opening our new training and customer service centre in Glasgow is further illustration of our commitment to giving our customers the very best possible backup to make their business successful.”
Since 1972, Makita UK’s range of power tools for the professional tradesman has expanded to more than 600 tools with innovations in performance and capability to make many tasks in the construction world more productive and safer for operators, achieving faster, more efficient, completion. Notable product innovations include the AVT – Advanced Vibration Technology – reducing HAV risks for operators; Brushless motors for cordless tools that increase motor power output, expand run time and lengthen tool and battery life; and the MM4 mini 4-stroke petrol engine that produces more power, consumes less fuel, cuts noise and emissions of grounds maintenance machines.
Today’s Makita range includes cordless machines which now rival some mains powered variants for impact power and torque, the firm said. The 18v Lithium-Ion battery platform, introduced in 2005, has expanded to more than 110 different products and recently the Twin 18v (36v) machines, powered by two of the existing 18v batteries, along with a range of domestic and professional cordless garden tools that further expands the powerful cordless range. Pneumatic tools include nailers and staplers whilst there are more petrol engine machines for construction and outdoor equipment, and horticultural machines for grounds maintenance and landscape professionals. An equally broad inventory of high quality accessories, such as drill bits, blades, abrasives and diamond cutting wheels, is included in the range.
Makita has an ISO accredited facility at Telford, Shropshire, one of 18 worldwide production plants. Here more than 1.25 million individual power tools are manufactured annually, of which 80% are exported to the global markets.
Makita UK also paid tribute to its national network of distributors, backed by a skilled sales and demonstration force, with the ethos of correct training: “This enables the selection of the most efficient tool for the job and the correct and safe use of the tools in active conditions. This belief is borne out by the major investment in the established training course facility at the Milton Keynes HQ and the new centre in Scotland.”