CNC tool firm's new HQ shared with Mitsubishi

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 4, 2004

CNC machine tool specialist Yamazen (UK) has moved from its old Kingston-upon-Thames base to new facilities in Leatherhead - just off the M25 motorway.

CNC machine tool specialist Yamazen (UK) has moved from its old Kingston-upon-Thames base to new facilities in Leatherhead - just off the M25 motorway.

The new building will house around ?2 million worth of advanced machines and serve as the company's headquarters - providing sales, service and demonstration facilities.

Spread over two floors, the Leatherhead site provides a 12,000 square foot showroom with a 6,000 square foot office complex sited above on a mezzanine floor.

The lower level also contains a bonded store for spare parts and is served by a 15-ton overhead crane for unloading machines directly off container lorries.

CNC machine tools from Mitsubishi, Kiwa, Tsugami, Samsung and Yamazen's own range of Matchmaker VMCs will all be demonstrated under power and cutting metal in the demonstration section.

The new Surrey premises will also be home to the sales and service centre of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Formerly located in Holland, Mitsubishi now has a self-contained portion of the building and it will be run as an autonomous operation.

The Japanese company asked Yamazen if it could re-locate there as the two companies have worked together for years (Yamazen has sold over 100 Mitsubishi machining centres in the UK) and it made good business sense for them to get together said Yamazen.

As part of the deal, Mitsubishi will have two of its new gear hobbers on permanent demonstration in the showroom area.

Yamazen's managing director, Colin Donhue, explained the thinking behind the re-location: "We have been looking to move for a number of years now.

Our previous site in Kingston was old fashioned and rather gloomy, having been built in the 1970s and access and transport were proving increasingly difficult.

Our new headquarters in Leatherhead are light, airy, modern and provides good transport links.

What's more, we can even just walk round the corner to a mainline railway station.

This new facility provides just the sort of image Yamazen wants to project for its business - modern, progressive and professional." Yamazen plans to hold a series of open days early next year to show off its premises and to introduce a number of new machines to both existing and new customers alike.