Toshiba closes its UK automation office

Toshiba has decided to close its UK automation office and to deal directly with its main UK distributor from Japan. The closure, which takes effect this month, could lead to lower prices and quicker deliveries.

Dave Probyn, Toshiba`s manager for automation and instrumentation products in the UK, says that the London office was "a bottleneck", with all information having to be funnelled to distributors through this office. He argues that modern technologies, such as email and videoconferencing, combined with improved English language abilities in Japan, now make it easier for the Tokyo headquarters to deal directly with its distributors.

By eliminating the overheads of running a London office, it will make it easier to ensure that the Toshiba products are competitively priced. Toshiba`s "strategic distributor" for the UK will be TM Automation which was formed last year. Several key Toshiba personnel are transferring to TM. Similar changes are being implemented in Germany, Italy and Spain.