Machine tool agent ScotMaz (www.scotmaz.com) will be taking over the sole representation of Yamazaki Mazak laser machines in Scotland.

Specialising exclusively in Mazak machines, the company covers the whole of Scotland and has been dealing with Mazak for over 30 years.

It was set up in 2004 as a dedicated agency with its own premises in Stirling and has sold over 700 Mazak machines since then.

Traditionally, agencies selling machine tools in Scotland are based in England and only have one employee north of the border.

However, ScotMaz has 12 employees covering everything from sales, installation, application, technical assistance and maintenance of the machines.

Seven of them are service engineers, on hand to offer after-sales support and ensure that customers’ machines continue to operate efficiently to meet production needs.

Steven Hunter, ScotMaz sales director, said: “Traditionally, the Scottish manufacturing industry has been predominantly oil and gas, but we see very good potential for the laser market in Scotland.

“This offering will give us a different angle to work with on the fabrication side of things.

"As this progresses, other engineers will be trained on the set-up and installation of Mazak laser machines; and if business goes the way we’re expecting it to, we’ll be expanding the company with more people.”

Ian White, general laser sales manager at Yamazaki Mazak, said: “Our extensive laser product range is the most advanced on the market, ranging from 6kW fibre lasers to ‘state of the art’ direct-diode laser technology, and it is designed to meet virtually any production requirement.

"We are very excited that ScotMaz is now the sole provider of Mazak laser machinery in Scotland, and we expect the market and customer base to grow as a result.”