At Surrey-based CI distributor AWE’s Expo event on May 10, it announced the official UK launch of the Draper and Sanus brands and its appointment as the international hub for universal remote control provider URC.
AWE will provide stock, training and technical support to URC, as well as supporting international customers when purchasing and installing URC products.
AWE was appointed the exclusive UK distributor of URC back in April 2011 and has since been working to establish URC in the UK.
The move will also see the distributor double its stockholding to compete on an international level.
“From May 1, AWE is the international stock and service and support Hub for URC,” said AWE managing director Stuart Tickle. “URC has taken direct responsibility for international sales, whereas previously that was handled by a third-party company. So URC is really taking international growth seriously. AWE’s is a stock and sales processing point for the majority of distributors in EMEA. We’re also providing those same distributors with advanced training and tech support. Our job is to train the trainer in terms of the international companies. We’re not giving direct support to the international installers, it’s more the distributors.
“We’re at least doubling our stockholding. So that’s obviously a good commitment for URC. That’s going to improve the flow of stock and make a dramatic improvement in service for all involved, including the dealers in the UK. You’re going to see a big push from URC coming forward. They now have the product line in place to really deliver.”
The company has also added two new brands to its line-up, Draper screens and Sanus AV mounts, which were soft-launched at its 2015 autumn expo. Mr Tickle said the plan was always to “ramp up” the brands and that AWE is now starting to see “solid traction” from them.
The moves come at a time when the company reports it is in line for 30 per cent growth since moving into the new facility back in 2014.
Mr Tickled added that AWE is also now THX calibration certified. He added: “There’s a lot of focus on quality of screen at the moment, quality of pixels, not just quantity. We’ve taken the step to get three staff in our tech services team fully trained. So we can now calibrate all flat screens and all projectors. But our focus is to provide pre-calibration service on screens that leave the AWE warehouse, at very competitive prices.”
