IAPS Group has established a new powered access sales and service business, Nacelexpert, in France.

Frédéric Allier, director of Nacelexpert, says: "We will be providing the same high level of customer service that people have come to expect from our expert team. This includes supplying new and used access platforms, as well as high quality service, preventative maintenance and technical assistance to all of our French customers."

Nacelexpert, based in Abzac, near Bordeaux, is a nationwide independent supplier of powered access platforms. Along with customer service personnel, it has a nationwide network of 56 mobile engineers.

The move follows the group's sale of its replacement parts business in France, IPS SARL, in November 2014.

Allier explains that because Nacelexpert is an independent provider, the company can offer "impartial advice" and ensure customers get the right equipment and service package.

IPS SARL was founded in 2006 as a division of the UK-based Independent Parts & Service Ltd (IPS), which is now part of IAPS Group. Allier and the machine sales and service staff from IPS SARL have transferred to Nacelexpert, retaining the team's long-standing customer relationships.

IAPS Group was formed in 2012 through the merger of two UK companies: Telford-based IPS and Huntingdon-based Access Platform Sales Ltd (APS). According to the group, this created the largest independent full-service distributor of aerial lifts (powered access platforms) in the UK. Besides IPS and APS, the group's third division consists of Platform Service & Repair, a provider of aerial lift inspection, service and repair that employs 23 people.