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Last blog of the year…

Welcome to my last blog of 2013 (more to come in 2014)! 

Despite the uncertain economic conditions, it’s been one of our best years yet, since the business was formed in 1978. I’d love to know how you’ve found 2013 and what your economic predictions are for 2014, too (see below)…

We’ve Expanded (not just our pre-Xmas waistlines)!
Our double-sized head office building is now complete! We now have double the space to deal with the expanding business and to ensure orders continue to be delivered in super-quick time. We’ve also taken on 7 additional staff over the year at our UK office and expect to take on further staff in 2014, too. We have grown by 162% of budget YTD, which I think is the result of taking on additional partners around the world who are seeing an increase in the demand of our products. The growing health and safety market has also helped, as our load cell products ensure the safety of equipment and its operating staff when lifting, offloading, pulling or pushing items up to 1000 tonnes.
How have you found 2013 business-wise and what do you think 2014 will bring? I’m happy to include some of your comments in my next blog as well as include a hyperlink to your company website as a thank you for getting involved! (please email me your comments dayling@straightpoint.com)

Mr Loadlink junior helping assemble desks

Mr Loadlink junior helping assemble desks

Travels
I’ve recently been busy on the road delivering our new catalogue and providing training on our new products at Singapore’s Intermarine and Australian Calibrating Services in Melbourne.

Mr loadlink with Intermarine

Mr loadlink with Intermarine


Wire rope factory, Intermarine

Wire rope factory, Intermarine


Intermarine technical training

Mr Loadlink giving Intermarine technical training


New Partner Details

I am delighted to announce Traction Levage as Straightpoint’s exclusive distributor for load cells in France. For all enquiries in France, please contact:
Christophe Fonvieille – ZI de Biver, F-13542 Gardanne, Cedex
T +33 442 654 680
I also welcome our new distributor for Morocco, ATELIER E.M.H
Other News
LiftEx: Thanks to those of you who came to see us in Bolton at the LiftEx exhibition stand recently. It was a great success and very enjoyable!

Straightpoint team at LiftEx

Straightpoint team at LiftEx

Football Sponsorships:
Straightpoint has recently been confirmed as the main sponsor for Portsmouth FC Under 10 team for its 2013-2014 season. The team consists of players who have been scouted from the local area and selected to play for the academy’s elite programme. All of the sponsorship money goes towards the academy, helping to buy the team’s equipment and kits.

Straightpoint sponsors of under 10's

Straightpoint sponsors of under 10’s

Plus, Straightpoint is also community sponsor for Chichester City FC, which will help the football club work towards its vision of providing football opportunities to local people of any age, gender, race, ability, health or wealth as well as offering the change for those with gift and ambition to fulfil their potential.

Mr Loadlink and some of the Straightpoint team at a reacent match

Mr Loadlink and some of the Straightpoint team at a reacent match

As a keen football fan and local business man, I saw these sponsorship opportunities as giving something back to the local community in a really positive way.

Hurry – get your orders in soon!
We will be working as usual until 20th December 2013, when we will be closed for the festivities. We will then be open again from 2nd January 2014, so do please contact us with your enquiries or orders as soon as possible to ensure we can deliver for your project start date…
If I don’t speak to you beforehand, I hope you have a fantastic December and a happy, prosperous 2014.

Merry Christmas from Straightpoint

Merry Christmas from Straightpoint

I haven’t posted a full blog in a while…

..so I thought I’d pick out the most varied news and stories from the last few weeks.

Executive Hire Show a Success

Thanks to those of you who came to see us at our Executive Hire Show stand in Coventry recently.  We were also delighted to be selected for the ‘innovation trail’, highlighting the fact that we were showcasing innovative products  (we gave live demonstrations of our brand new wireless centre of gravity system, using our popular wireless compression loadcells).

Me and the innovation trail sign

Me and the innovation trail sign

Steve Woodhead, our UK Sales Manager and me enjoying a well-deserved drink after the exhibition!

Steve Woodhead, our UK Sales Manager and me enjoying a well-deserved drink after the exhibition!

Heads up on loadcells being launched in May!

WLS wireless loadshackle

WLS wireless loadshackle

I thought I’d give you the heads up on a range of re-engineered shackle loadcells we’ll be launching in May 2013, including a new design and specification.
Previously, the shackle loadcell range was made to order, but due to re-engineering, we can now supply them next day, which is a bonus for ad hoc projects or last-minute requirements.

The benefits of these loadcells are that they have no external antennae and they include an industry-leading battery life so the safety readings don’t run out half way through a project!  In addition, they are designed to connect to a range of wireless products and software, which allow for data logging and printing of reports.

 

 

The rest of my news can be summed up in picture format…

20 years at Straightpoint

Toby in our engineering team, receiving a gift for his 20 years at Straightpoint

Belgian distributor

Visiting Metil, our Belgian distributor. Sampling strong, Belgian beers after meetings with Philip Toussaint!

christmas lights

Visit to the US in conjunction with our US office: cranes at San Diego, and Xmas lights at Camarillo

working in the snow

The team still hard at work working on an order during the heavy snowfall!