Best of British

LED manufacturer UKLED has opened a direct sales arm of its Made in the UK lighting products, aimed at the electrical contracting and specifiers market.

The Merseyside-based firm launched with an initial focus on the re-lamping of existing lighting systems, re-engineering and installing UKLED products, using its own team of electricians.

Launched in 2010, the company initially set up a manufacturing arm in China, appointing a UK manager and team to deal with the supply chain and to source, product specific components and assembly. Following a series of issues with quality, consistency and delivery, the management team began to explore options to manufacture in the UK.

Utilising an existing manufacturing site and with the procurement of the right machines and technology, production has begun in recent months. Whilst more laborious lamps and bulbs are still manufactured in the Far East, this major commercial light is now UK built and assembled at its Merseyside head office.

Colin Griffiths, technical director of UKLED said: “We recognised the scope of this market and we also knew how many competitors were already out there. We knew that the only way to get a truly competitive edge was to bring the manufacture of the tube back to the UK. Any supplier who deals with the Asian market is faced with ongoing issues in terms of quality, consistency of components, delays with production and delivery. By taking this ‘in house’ and into the UK, we can remove all of these obstacles, which is a fairly unique proposition.”