Positive charge from Eriks+Wyko
March 26th 2008

Wyko officially becomes Eriks as of April this year. An intense period of activity has followed the Dutch outfit’s £139m purchase in November 2006, according to marketing director, Steve Bodsworth, who describes the deal as “all upside”, and hinted the acquisitive firm is eyeing further OEM targets within the UK.

“It’s not just a new name above the door but a huge increase in product, service provision and know-how,” claims Bodsworth, who has overseen the Eriks + Wyko rebranding across all technology and service channels, ensuring each of its 24 UK facilities provides a uniform approach.

To ensure the firm lives up to its new strapline (‘Know-how makes the difference’) in the future, Bodsworth also announced a new apprenticeship programme: Eriks hope to bolster its current roster of 15 apprentices to 100. Bodsworth describes this as “succession planning from the bottom up” and says the firm is actively seeking “the right” 16 and 17 year olds.

Apprenticeships will be one of the key focuses of ‘Eriks on tour’ later this year, when the company will visit major customers, colleges and universities, sports events etc., in a tour bus. The plan is to recruit up to 45 new members in 2008 across three disciplines: Commercial Management Training Programme; Service Centre Apprenticeship Scheme (both two year programmes); and a full four-year Electro Mechanical Engineering Apprentice scheme.

In its native market, (Holland) Eriks’ business is currently a 50-50 split between MRO and OEM operations. Wyko’s is currently 98% MRO. While unlikely to exactly mirror the Dutch operation, Bodsworth says a 60-40 MRO/OEM split in the UK within the next five years is achievable. He says the cash-rich firm will achieve this by strategic acquisitions and that discussions with several OEMs are already underway.

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