egeplast is one of the leading European manufacturers of plastic pipe systems. Founded in 1908, the family-owned company based in Greven (Germany) generated annual sales of 170 million euros in 2021 and operates state-of-the-art production facilities in Germany, Sweden, and Great Britain – serving customers in over 30 countries.
The egeplast Group produces and distributes future-proofed and intelligent pipe systems. In doing so, egeplast contributes to a secure basic supply for people – providing clean drinking water, heat, and electricity, as well as access to high-speed internet. egeplast thus offers solutions for humanity’s most important challenges: climate protection and digitalization. Resource conservation, sustainability, and social responsibility are decisive factors in this. The egeplast brand stands for quality leadership and offers its customers the highest degree of reliability and security.
egeplast UK
Internationalization is part of the egeplast Group’s corporate strategy. To remain competitive across the entire product range, freight costs must not be too high. Logistics for supplying the British market are more complex than for deliveries to continental Europe due to factors such as ferry transport and the use of 40-foot containers. Post-Brexit changes have further complicated the supply of British customers from Germany.
Since 2005, egeplast has been developing the British market through its sales partner Westwood Pipelines Ltd in Sandtoft near Doncaster. Through the successful partnership with Westwood Pipelines, egeplast obtained local approvals for supplying the British market, operated locally with a large warehouse of egeplast pipes, and was able to build strong business relationships with utility companies, construction firms, and distributors. In 2018, egeplast invested in setting up a new production facility for PE pipes at the Westwood Pipelines site to offer customers a more flexible service and shorter delivery times. With the acquisition of Westwood Pipelines in 2021, egeplast has a location in Great Britain to continue growing in the future.
The British site covers approximately 40,000 m². Under the leadership of Managing Director Steven Jones, Westwood Pipelines (now trading as egeplast UK) employs 40 people in production, administration, and sales. As a production and sales company, egeplast UK is capable of extruding pipes up to a size of 180 mm, manufacturing specialized fittings, and offering a range of PE pipe fittings that complement the Group’s broad range of pipe systems. The company plans to expand its capacities and production capabilities through investment.
What are the benefits for customers?
The strength of egeplast UK lies in its knowledge of the British market, the successful business relationships built over many years, the broad range of technical support, and the local service valued by its customer base. egeplast UK’s goal is to continue placing innovation at the center and thereby support society in overcoming current and future challenges. This is a key element of the strategic plan for the future.
“The transition from Westwood Pipelines to egeplast UK opens up significant growth opportunities for our company and offers the market some interesting developments,” says Steven Jones, Managing Director of egeplast UK. “We now have the support of a leading European manufacturer of polyethylene pipe systems, which enables us to develop additional capacity and, most importantly, to consolidate our position as a manufacturing company for the UK market. The acquisition also provides us with a platform for future growth by offering our customers an enhanced service and providing other innovative products alongside core products such as the SLA® Barrier Pipe System, allowing us to address additional market segments.”
egeplast UK will expand its product offering by introducing new pipe systems: SLM® 3.0, which allows customers to reduce their carbon footprint during pipeline installation; 3L Leak Control, a pipe system with permanent electronic leak detection for optimal environmental protection; SLM® DCS pipes, which offer regular integrity checks for critical infrastructure applications, and SLM® DCT, a pipe system with integrated quality testing for trenchless installation. Further product and service launches are planned and include sustainable solutions that contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions and offer long-term environmental benefits.
Source: Sustainability
