UpRight opts for two brands

Under the new strategy, almost all products sold in North America will be branded Snorkel. The exceptions will be the UpRight push–around and trailer mounted products that will be sold as UpRight through local manufacturer representatives.

In North America, UpRight's smaller powered products, including the AB38, TM12 and mast boom MB products, will be branded Snorkel and built at Snokel's Wathena plant.

In Europe, UpRight will be marketing 10 Snorkel–built products (see box), including the 10 m and 12 m mid–range diesels that are built at Snorkel's New Zealand facility. These will also now be produced at UpRight's UK plant and at Snorkel's Kansas facility. Snorkel's mid–range booms will also made in the UK.

Richard Tindale, UpRight's sales and marketing director, said; “These [Snorkel] products fit perfectly into our ‘keep it simple’ ethos of providing customers with tough reliable and user friendly machines…All ten of the new models are tried and tested in the Snorkel range, both in North America and Europe”.

The introduction of the Snorkel booms means that UpRight will shelve plans to revive its SB60 and SB80 telescopic booms, although production of the smaller articulated UpRight AB46 model is likely to continue.

Although Tanfield is planning to use a single brand in each territory, there is likely to be dual branding for a period in some markets where both brands have strong distributors, such as the UK, Australia and The Netherlands.