John Iles

Merlo UK is now a full subsidiary of the Italian telehandler manufacturer, the Merlo Group.

John Iles, joint founder of Merlo UK, has retired as managing director and Merlo Group has acquired his shares. Iles will help with the transition through his new roles as Merlo UK's non-executive director and deputy chairman of the board.

Maurizio Ganio-Mego, the new general manager of Merlo UK, credits Iles and his team for setting a "tremendous foundation" for the Merlo product in the UK. "Without their experience and local knowledge, it would have been much more difficult to successfully penetrate the market here."

Ganio-Mego says Iles is "quite literally an icon of the rough-terrain truck market in the UK" and the group is delighted to retain his experience. He adds that the group plans to expand its UK business and will invest more to achieve its longer-term aims.

Merlo Group spokesman Peter Grant says a factory meeting with all of the UK dealers is in the pipeline "to introduce them to the new team and discuss the future".

The Merlo Group has other subsidiaries in France, Spain and Australia, and a joint venture company in Germany. Since 1983, Merlo UK has sold over 7,000 Merlo telehandlers. Merlo UK has reported that it has not been badly affected by the global economic downturn because it is strong in the agriculture market. The plant hire and residential construction markets have been severely impacted in the downturn. (Forkliftaction.com News #396)

Forkliftaction.com News hopes to publish an interview with Ganio-Mego next month, outlining Merlo Group's expansion plans in the UK market.