Following its purchase of the Quinton Hazell intellectual property rights from Klarius in February, Tetrosyl has now added QH France to the business for an undisclosed sum.
The purchase includes a 72,000 sq ft distribution centre in Lille and will also see 36 of the previous QH France team continuing to work for the Bury-based Tetrosyl in the newly-formed Quinton Hazell Europe.
New distributors
The company is also appointing new distributors around the world, most recently in Denmark to service the German market, so that it can eventually reach the 140 countries that QH previously supplied to.
CAT spoke with Tetrosyl Chairman Peter Schoffield to find out how the planned August relaunch of QH was going, and what the ECP/LKQ ownership of QH Netherlands means for him.
“It’s fairly straightforward. The Sator business was bought by LKQ and they have the right to sell in Benelux, that’s it.”
Branding and Image
“We haven’t had discussions about branding, or anything like that, but they obviously could continue with the older QH image,” says Schoffield.
“At Tetrosyl we’re redesigning the entire range and the way we go to market with the QH brands.”
The new image will be unveiled with the launch of the QH range in August and will be accompanied by the rebirth of other names.
“Some of the older brands will be brought back as well, including TJ filters and CI ignition products and then some of the Moprod lines.”
So far there have been no discussions about how the situation in Benelux might resolve, but Schoffield can’t see why much effort would be put into QH by ECP/LKQ since it only covers limited territories.
Work continues in Ireland with CD Ireland which bought QH stock but none of the intellectual property rights of the brand, says Schoffield.
Tetrosyl will launch QH with around 40,000 SKUs, but how quickly can Schoffield get to the target of 92,000?
“I would suggest that by the very early part of 2014 it will be complete but, as you know with parts, it’s an ongoing situation, you’re forever adding and taking away.
“We’ve got new suppliers, some existing suppliers, but always remember that our business is not averse to parts, we have done parts for a long, long time.”
Tetrosyl has taken on around ten new employees in the UK, says Schoffield, to boost its domestic parts staff count to around 50. At the moment there are no plans to expand on Tetrosyl’s existing 65,000 sq ft warehouse space in Trafford Park, Manchester, and 13 regional distribution sites.
Supplier support
Did Schoffield encounter any resistance from suppliers who may have had their fingers burnt in the Klarius Group administration?
“No, not at all. I think everybody was extremely pleased that it was back in UK hands and with a company which has got the commitment to put it back to where it was. It’s got a huge amount of respect.” CAT will catch up with Schoffield in August to find out more.
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