“DE-MERGER BRINGS RE-BIRTH OF INDUSTRY LEGEND”

Phil Black - PII Editor 21/10/2013

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Veterans of the UK Power Transmission industry will remember, with some affection, the name “Distag” from the 1990s. Originally specialising in the supply of agricultural belts and chains, they quickly built a reputation for service and value across the UK and Ireland. At the same time, they were early entrants to the pioneering world of Chinese production for standard and bespoke transmission and engineering components.

Having worked with the highly respected PIX Transmission for the supply of belts since the early nineties, Distag joined forces with them in 1999, to form a joint venture company PIX Europe. The rest, as they say, is history; and PIX Europe grew rapidly over the next decade, building an enviable distribution network across Europe, along with an impressive list of blue-chip OEM clients. In 2004, it opened a new office and warehouse in Germany, near Paderborn; and three years later purchased their UK hydraulics partner, Flexequip. This brought two further locations in Lisburn and Cardiff, and provided the manufacturing know-how for hydraulic fittings to complement the PIX hydraulic hose, which had become a major growth area.

As of 1st October, PIX Europe will demerge and the business will be divided geographically. Distag QCS (UK) Ltd will become a national distributor for the UK and Ireland, exclusively distributing PIX belts and hoses along with a whole raft of related mechanical, hydraulic and engineering products. PIX Transmissions will take on the distribution of belts and hoses for mainland Europe, using an expanded warehouse, in Paderborn, as their distribution hub.

QCS stands for Quality Component Solutions, and that is really the essence of the Distag story. The “new Distag” is now uniquely placed to bring a remarkable product offering to its UK partners. Over the years, the Distag Group has evolved, alongside PIX Europe, with companies in Ireland, the UK and China, and the product offering is immense – a massive range of transmission belts, including specialist products like Agri, Lawn & Garden, FRAS and High Power; a full range of metal PT products including pulleys, bushes, chain and sprockets; hydraulic hose and fitting, including state-of-the-art hose-making facilities – and last, but certainly not least, the ability to produce bespoke engineering products (machined, forged or cast), and provide cost-effective outsourcing solutions.

All this under the watchful eye of Joe and Sheila Deacon, who founded the Distag Group, and celebrated its first 25 years in business in June this year. Joe and Sheila will not be the only faces you recognise – Co-Director Stewart Booth, and Business Development Manager, Nigel Rose, have been with Joe since the original Distag!! Most of the team will be transferring from PIX Europe and PIX Hydraulics, so existing customers will find business pretty much “as usual”. The locations in Ipswich, Cardiff, and Lisburn, will all be retained under the Distag QCS banner.

Joe commented, “The de-merger is a kind of natural progression – the two companies helped each other to grow. Now they have different agendas and priorities – PIX, understandably, want to concentrate on their core belt and hose products and growing their brand; while we have many other products and market sectors we want to grow our presence in. We also have a very well developed infrastructure in China, which we want to bring much more to the fore”.

He continued, “We will fill a unique space in the UK market. There are many national distributors specialising in bearings, and one or two who major on PT metal goods. We aim to offer a full range of PT products; hydraulic hose, fittings, and assemblies; as well as bespoke engineering products.”

Distag QCS (UK) Ltd
Unit 24 Farthing Road Industrial Estate
Sproughton, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 5AP, England
Tel: +44 (0) 1473 744612
Fax: +44 (0) 1473 744613
email: rbooth@distagqcs.com
www.distag.com