Team Bolstered for Further Growth in 2013

Electronic monitoring and control manufacturer The IMC Group (UK) has announced a series of key appointments to bolster its strategy for continuing growth in 2013.

Phil Ruda, who was appointed as UK Sales Manager last March, has strengthened his business development team with the addition of industry specialists for each of the four major sectors served by The IMC Group.

The four new business development managers are Deborah Haisman (Industrial), Gordon Muscat (Food), Dave Gough (Heritage) and David Roberts (Healthcare), all of whom bring a wealth of industry-specific expertise to the group.

The IMC Group was born out of a series of mergers and acquisitions which began in 2007 and has recently consolidated its operating companies into the Group, a change that is supported by the launch of a comprehensive new website. From this month, Hanwell becomes one of the Group’s key brands, along with IceSpy and ShockLog, which is leading brand for the monitoring of shock and vibration that can affect high-value items such as power transformers during manufacture and transportation.

The IMC Group provides the heritage, healthcare, industrial and food sectors with tailored monitoring technology that delivers vital data ranging from environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity through to the condition of goods and infrastructure during operation, storage and transportation.

The Group’s turnover has almost doubled since 2007 with a diverse international client base that includes The Vatican, GlaxoSmithKline, the Royal Opera House and Siemens Medical and Alstom Grid.

Within the monitoring and control industry, The IMC Group is unique in designing, manufacturing and installing its own technology, and this seamless end-to-end business model has helped ensure sustained growth. In its first six years, the company has moved to new factory premises in Hertfordshire and invested more than £1m in state-of-the-art production machinery to improve the speed and accuracy of circuit board production. At the same time, the workforce has almost doubled to 60, most of whom are based at the head office in Letchworth.

Group Managing Director Ian Robinson says the latest investments in sector specialists, brand consolidation and a relaunched website will further strengthen the Group’s position going into a new trading year.

He explains: “The operating companies that formed The IMC Group had strong reputations in particular markets – Hanwell in heritage and healthcare, Lamerholm in industry and Silvertree in food. During 2012, we invested heavily in reorganising the UK sales team to build on our strength as a partner to the heritage, industrial, food, pharmaceuticals and healthcare sectors.

“A key benefit of this consolidation is that we now offer all customers access to the full IMC product range through a single contact, who has the knowledge and experience to understand how a range of devices can be combined into a complete solution. They are backed up by experienced installation and sales support teams whose aim is to ensure successful and efficient deployment from project initiation to completion. We don’t believe that anyone else in our sector can match this approach.”

Continuous innovation is a core value of The IMC Group, with Engineering Director Dr Martin Hancock playing an integral role in new product development. His achievements include the design of the landmark Hanwell sensors, which are still the enduring benchmark for environmental monitoring within the museum and heritage sector.

Dr Hancock now heads up a design team of eight and collaborates with selected universities on KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) programmes to develop practical applications from some of the UK’s most innovative research projects.

Ian Robinson believes such unique strengths equip the group for continuing success. “IMC has grown both in the UK and overseas since the merger and we continue to invest in the structure, the machinery, the people and the products,” he said.

“We have always had a good reputation for designing technical solutions to address real and emerging market problems and our approach continues to be one of building long lasting relationships with our customers through understanding their markets. This fundamental approach won’t change.”