Haki climbs higher

by Paul Howard

Haki, manufacturer of modular scaffolding systems, confirmed its purchase of mechanised work platform producer Malmquist will act as a catalyst for further expansion into the traditional scaffolding market.

UK managing director Paul Brunt believes this is the market mast-climbers need to attack if they are to realise their potential. "A lot of projects that use scaffolding could use work platforms," he said.

Brunt also cited the potential similarities that exist between the mechanical and non-mechanical sectors of the access market as reasons for Haki's strategy: rather than wait for the competition to move in on its target market, Haki decided to do it itself.

This is already the case in Denmark where Haki acts as dealer for more than 300 product items including mobile elevated work platforms. The move also echoes Haki UK's recent dealership agreement with German hoist manufacturer Geda. It shows the company's desire to provide a variety of solutions to the range of access problems.

Over the next six months, Haki UK will be looking to gauge the strength of the market and introduce all existing Malmquist platforms.

"Malmquist has been selling its mast-climbers in the UK for 20 years, but we feel we can offer the support in terms of training, expertise and product development to take this further," said Brunt.

"We think the market will develop on the back of product innovation and we are looking to bring in new ideas based on cross-usage of technologies," Brunt added.

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