Ahrend and Techo to join forces in the UK

The office furniture group Royal Ahrend, active in Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle and Far East announces the upcoming merger between Ahrend Ltd and Techo UK Ltd. The merger of the two equally successful companies already operating in the UK market within the Royal Ahrend group will take place midst of this year. The Techo brand will at that point assimilate into the global company brand name Ahrend. By merging these companies Ahrend builds on the resilient, effective and trustworthy heritage of both companies. Joining forces enables the company to enhance the customer experience with a wider inspiring and relevant product range in combination with an exceptional customer oriented service for both the direct and the dealer market in the UK.

Royal Ahrend strategy

The merger of the two companies into one Ahrend UK company reflects Royal Ahrend’s international growth strategy, aimed at global representation with local manufacturing and sales activities in its main markets, which has been implemented throughout mainland Europe and APAC over the past five years. Techo UK is the last business unit that has been operating under the Techo brand, following the renaming of the Techo company brand to Ahrend in 2021, when nine branches operating under the Techo brand in the Central and Eastern Europe region were rebranded as Ahrend as part of the global corporate strategy. With its strong customer relationships the Techo UK branch achieved record successes specifically targeting dealers within the UK, over the past 6 years. Techo's legacy will live on as an international product brand offering adaptive, reliable and clever products.

Opening new Ahrend UK

The merger of Ahrend UK and Techo UK into one Ahrend UK company is due to take place in the course of the year. The Ahrend showroom will house the new joint Ahrend UK team consisting of both the current Ahrend and Techo staff and general operations going forward. Ahrend will organise a grand opening of the new and inspiring showroom end of May during Clerkenwell Design Week.

Jelle van der Kolk, Commercial Director Western Europe: “This merger of two industry experts with a proven track record in the UK, will enable us even better to anticipate and address the continuously evolving end-user needs. Combining the companies allows our customers to benefit from complementary capabilities and expertise in direct and dealer sales and we are very pleased that both customer segments will have access to our full inspiring product offering. Given the success of both companies, this process goes without the need for any enforced redundancies or reduction of services as we evolve into one larger and more versatile company. The newly formed organisation will have a leadership structure with dedicated focus on both the direct and dealer customer segments to maintain full focus on both key customer segments. We are pleased to announce that Andy Barnard, Techo UK’s current Managing Director, will be promoted to Managing Director of the new Ahrend UK company. With Andy, the joint team gets a highly motivated, experienced and competent leader with an exceptional track record.”.

Andy Barnard, Managing Director of the new Ahrend UK company: “This merger will be taking two iconic brands within the industry and creating something with extraordinary potential. Thanks to the successful integration of these two companies within other European territories we already have a tried and tested blueprint for success laid out, which we are confident will ensure a smooth transition. To celebrate the start of this merger, the opening of the joint showroom will be accompanied by a grand opening later this year. I am very much looking forward and motivated to leading this newly formed team”.

Leading up to the merger and through-out it is important to note that customers, suppliers and partners can expect a continuation of the same processes and experiences.