Brighton-based Dugard Ltd (www.dugard.com) has appointed three new sales engineers to support the rise in demand for the growing number of machine tool ranges that the company offers.

At the end of 2018, it became the sole UK and Ireland sales and distribution outlet for the Korean brand Hanwha (sliding-head lathes); soon after that announcement, it was named as the sales and distribution outlet for Kitamura machine tools.

To meet growing demand for these new brands — and its established ones — Dugard has appointed Mark Anson, Alex Clarke and John Brimblecome as the area sales managers for the Midlands, South West and North West respectively.

They are ‘apprentice-served engineers’ with decades of experience.

Mr Anson started his engineering career more than 35 years ago as an apprentice mechanical engineer, before progressing into sales roles. Much of his career has been spent working in the sliding-head turning sector.

Mr Clarke, who will assist customers with his specialist knowledge of machining in the aerospace, automotive and offshore sectors, has spent more than 10 years as both a machinist and a machine tool sales engineer.

Mr Brimblecome has progressed through mechanical-engineering posts to R&D, product development and latterly machine tool sales, where he has spent a number of years with a well-known supplier of machine tools.

Dugard’s managing director, Eric Dugard, said: “Despite economic uncertainty, our investment in the expansion of our portfolio has paid dividends over the last 12 months, and the new members of our team will help to bolster this growth trajectory.

"The Kitamura and Hanwha brands, along with our new series of cobots, give Dugard one of the most comprehensive and diverse machine ranges available.”