Hydrastore and Allison Hydraulics merge

03 February, 2017

Allison Hydraulics director Steve Brown now becomes a director of Hydrastore, and will continue to be based at the Washington depot. “Although it’s sad to lose the Allison Hydraulics name, a company that has traded successfully since 1976, it was clear that operating as one united organisation provided significant benefits to both the company and its customers,” said Brown. “As Hydrastore we are better positioned to offer more commercially attractive solutions to the market place and have immediate access to the vast stocks held at Doncaster.”

Brown continued: “We have a fantastic pool of talent within our two businesses; this merger will make our diverse range of skills, expertise and services available to a wider UK market from our three strategic locations. I’m certain that these changes will make for a stronger and more effective business going forward.”

Cohesive strategy

Steve Owen, general manager and director at Hydrastore, commented: “Over the past three years, considerable effort has gone into developing a cohesive strategy for the business as a whole. We believe these developments now position the Group for even greater growth as well as making us more resilient and responsive to changing market and customer needs.”

Owen continued: “As a supplier of a wide range of hydraulic equipment together with installation and commissioning, Allison Hydraulics has historically focused on serving industry local to its Birmingham and Washington depots. Hydrastore has specialised in its systems and product provision, distributing throughout the UK. By merging the two businesses, we have improved our overall process efficiencies, and the staff and resources can be utilised more effectively; providing a full UK-wide service for products, plus the installation and commissioning of our systems.”

Julian Lee, director of DCA, reflected that some companies still perceive Hydrastore as a ‘box shifter’; mainly involved in the distribution of products. “I believe it is important to emphasise that this is only a part of our business activity,” he said. “As a full systems house we are not only able to supply the right products to suit specific customer requirements, we also regularly support customers by developing fully bespoke systems that incorporate the very best equipment to suite their specific requirements.

“Additionally, Hydrastore uses DCA as its external sales support arm. DCA and Hydrastore sales engineers are all highly trained to understand and meet the precise needs of our customers, providing full technical service and support as required. In this regard, we work closely with the National Fluid Power Centre (NFPC) to ensure we are always at the cutting edge of current technology and changing market requirements or trends.”

In terms of ongoing development, Lee explained that the DCA Group will continue to offer more resources on an engineering level, not just for hydraulics but also with regard to complementary areas such as complete electronics and control systems. For example, we can now supply radio control systems, plus ruggedised electronic control equipment in partnership with Finnish company Exertus. I believe these types of value-added offerings ensure that we are able to provide our customers with a complete service that is second to none.”