Hammer Opens Office in France

Hammer PLC, distributor dedicated to
storage, has augmented its customer offering by opening an office in France,
and announcing the launch of a mainland Europe logistics hub and integration
centre located in Belgium, to be opened in the summer.

The developments come
after Hammer’s first Europeansales director was appointed four months ago,
and Hammer featured in The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 List nine
months ago in acknowledgment of its international growth.

The French office,
based in Paris, joins Hammer’s existing regional offices in Mechelen, Belgium;
Almere, Netherlands; Brescia, Italy; and Stockholm, Sweden.

The distributor’s
physical presence in the French market will support its partners in
providing storage products and solutions for the country’s progressing IT
infrastructure.

The logistics hub in
Belgium will provide a central European location which will benefit customers
through reduced lead times, extended stock holding, improved drop-ship
capabilities, and tracking. In addition, Hammer can provide logistics
solutions, aiding resellers in managing their warehousing requirements and
allowing them to maximize potential sales, and local customers will be able to
pick up orders directly from the warehouse.

Hammer’s European
focus has grown further in recent years, and its UK event, Storage
Focus, has expanded to locations in Europe; this year featuring events in
Belgium, Netherlands and Nordics regions.

MD James Ward, who won
the contribution to industry award at the UK’s storage awards event in June
last year, says: "We are thrilled to
be launching a new regional office at the same time as expanding our warehouse
and production facilities in Europe. These developments exemplify Hammer’s
dedication to regional markets. Expanding our business across the board is of
great importance to Hammer, and our continuing objective is to be the strongest
value-add distributor in every territory where we have a presence."

Ward continues: "We look forward to working closer with our
new and existing French customers, and continuing to provide the high level of
value-added support Hammer is synonymous with."

Eddy Bergiers,
European sales sales director, said: "Our
French office is managed by staff who are very experienced in storage
distribution. The French market is one of the biggest in Europe, and we also
have the advantage of the backing of our vendors who are looking forward to
Hammer expanding into a country which has a clear gap in the market for a
storage value-added distributor, and emulating our success in another region."