New man hopes to raise EPP`s UK profile

The Italian hydraulics specialist Euro Press Pack has brought in Mike Bradley to be general manager of its UK business, EPP Magnus, based in Norwich. Bradley, whose previous experience has been mainly in the IT industry, aims to raise the company`s profile and to expand its markets.

EPP has a highly automated plant near Genoa which employs just 50 people, but produces a wide range of high-pressure hydraulics equipment, ranging from hand-pumps, to powerful jacks capable of lifting buildings or positioning bridges.

EPP Magnus employs seven people in the UK and about two-thirds of its business is in the construction sector. Bradley hopes to expand the company`s industrial activities The challenge, he says, is that EPP`s products are "not a massive part of anybody`s business".

Although there is a lot of competition in the hydraulics industry, he adds, "there is not as much as in IT".