08.09.2016

Hobbs moves to ATN

French aerial lift manufacturer ATN has appointed Tony Hobbs to the new role of UK technical manager, as it looks to expand sales in the UK and Ireland

Hobbs joins the company from Manitou UK where he has worked for more than 17 years. As access product manager over the past 10 years or more, he has played a significant role in getting Manitou aerial work platforms into UK rental fleets. Something that several previous efforts - through its dealer network - had failed to do. The change to more direct type of selling and support helped change all that as did Manitou’s ongoing product development and more realistic pricing.

Hobbs joined Manitou in 1999 from JCB dealer Greenshields JCB, where he was initially in the service department, becoming a parts supervisor in 1997. In all he spent five and a half years with the company.
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Tony Hobbs

ATN produces a range of mast booms, Rough Terrain articulated booms, Rough Terrain scissors and a new spider lift. The product quality, fit and finish is not unlike that of Manitou, and the company is a specialist with aims at substantial growth over the next few years.

Vertikal Comment

ATN has struggled a little to get established in the UK, but thanks to a consistent exhibition programme and marketing - not to mention persistence, the brand is now widely recognised and having some modest success. If it is to win a sustainable share of the market though it does need a more direct approach, with a locally based employee, and in Hobbs it has a good man who has done it all before.