LPE Group consists of several separate companies, one for each part of the business. There is Laser Products Europe (LPE) itself, which sells American-made laser templaters into Europe. Then there is Breton Machinery UK, selling the Italian Breton top-of-the-range CNC saws and workcentres. Last year LPE Tooling was formed as Directors Carl Sharkey and Simon Bradbury decided to offer a complete range of tools and consumables. And earlier this year Comandulli UK took over the distribution of these Italian edge polishers and saws in the British Isles.
The LPE Group has grown quickly, moving several times to accommodate the growth, most recently at the end of May from Hornsea to Beverley, a few miles away but still in East Yorkshire.
The move had become necessary because the group had two units in Hornsea and was wasting too much time moving people and products between them and there was not enough room to stock the extended range of tools and consumables.
LPE Group is now stocking its warehouse with the products that customers want on a day-to-day basis so they are available for next day delivery and has also taken two used machines into storage. It has not sold used machinery in the past because it has not had room to keep it. It also wants to display some new machines now it has the room to do so.
The latest LPE Group agency, Comandulli, has already made its mark. A Comandulli edge polisher and a saw were exhibited as part of the LPE Group mix at the Natural Stone Show in London at the end of April and eight of the 25 machines LPE Group has sold this year have been Comandullis.
Carl Sharkey says even though demand for machines has picked up, there is plenty of competition for sales among the suppliers, which is keeping prices keen. In conjunction with the strong pound and the Regional Growth Fund usually chopping
10-20% off the price customers are paying, prices currently being asked for top quality Italian machinery are bargains.
LPE Group counts among its customers major players such as Sheridan in West Yorkshire, J Rotherham in East Riding, MBP based in Derby and Caterham in Stoke-on-Trent, as well as many smaller companies that find they are able to afford to trade up to better equipment.
The Breton NC300 workcentre remains the UK’s most popular machine in the Breton range, although sales of the K19, with a slightly smaller bed, are building.
And as for the laser templaters, LPE sold 44 of them in the UK in the first seven months of the year. Sales are also growing on mainland Europe, where Weha, a major wholesaler, is now selling the brand into five countries in a reciprocal arrangement with LPE, which has included Weha products in its LPE Tooling range. Sweden is proving another bright spot for templater sales as word spreads about how useful the 2D/3D laser templaters are.
Laser Products Europe will have its own stand showing its templaters right opposite the Weha stand in Verona, where Carl Sharkey will also be on hand to greet UK and Ireland visitors to the Breton and Comandulli stands.