Be my Guest… Andy Charlesworth
Yoke is this year’s Gold Sponsor at LEEA LiftEx at London Olympia October, 16, 17 and is looking forward to meeting international members and end users at the show. Here to tell us more is Andy Charlesworth, MD, Yoke Lifting UK.
Charlesworth was promoted from sales director to MD 11 months’ ago and is taking the company in a new direction, promoting Yoke as a bigger premium brand.
“I came onboard with a lot of experience from my previous roles, and they wanted me to take the business in a new direction from our previous set up in the UK. We want to raise awareness about what we are capable of as a manufacturer and some of the new developments we're doing within our business and new strategies,” he said.
“We've now started to introduce digitalisation into our programme. Over the last two years we've been steadily changing our manufacturing processes to incorporate RFID, NFC-enabled microchips in probably 95% of our product range.
“We believe that in the future we need to ensure this digital system is in place. So that going forward we can remove the need for paper transactions, and ensure a safer working environment so people always have access to the correct documentation they need for any of our products and products of other manufacturers.”
Yoke decided to become a Gold sponsor at this year's LiftEx having visited LiftEx in Liverpool last year.
“I genuinely thought they got it spot on. The location was great. The advertisement beforehand was good and the attendees, whether it's a mix of, ‘the old brigade’, the people we know and love in this industry, but also the end users, I think that's critical,” said Charlesworth.
“In our industry, companies like ourselves want to meet up with end users. We want to tell them about new developments, and because it worked so well last year, and also because LEEA, one of the things they wanted to try and do with this year's show in London, Olympia was to attract a wider audience, that fits our bill nicely. We're a global company and it fits perfectly in promoting Yoke to a wider audience.”
Yoke has a stand at the show with RiConnect, which utilises its software, for its microchips.
“Personally, I've known LEEA for decades. The association has been a big part of my career in terms sourcing personnel and for any questions I might have. I have also been a part of LEEA's Technical Committee. It offers a broad range of services, whether it's training, or technical queries, and now the Chatbot. Also, they’re not afraid to ask for help from the manufacturers. We're not guarded. Likewise, we want to make sure we're at the forefront of any changes in standards and regulations.
Charlesworth said for this year’s show Yoke is looking forward to meeting end users, similar to last year, and meeting people they’ve not been in touch with previously.
“I'd like to see more people from overseas. We have colleagues coming in from Taiwan and hopefully they'll be meeting up with some of our overseas customers. I know some of our overseas distributors are flying in for the event as well,” he added.
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For more information about LiftEx visit https://events.leeaint.com
