Kobelco Cranes Europe becomes part of a single Dutch-based regional headquarters
From the end of 2017 Kobelco’s excavator and crane operations in Europe sit under one company. Kobelco Cranes Europe Ltd is renamed and absorbed into a Netherlands-based regional headquarters covering both product lines.
One headquarters for two product lines
Kobelco Construction Machinery Co. Ltd (KCM) has restructured its European operations so that a single company in the Netherlands acts as regional headquarters for the sale and service of both hydraulic excavators and cranes.
Until the change, the two businesses were run separately: excavator sales and service through Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe B.V. (KCME) in the Netherlands, and crane sales and service through Kobelco Cranes Europe Ltd (KCE) in the UK. The reorganisation brings both under KCME, with a stated aim of improving efficiency, strengthening product development and making better use of management resources.
The date of consolidation was 31 December 2017. Makoto Kato is the representative of the combined company, headquartered in Almere and wholly owned by KCM. Its remit covers Europe, Russia and the CIS, French-speaking North Africa and Israel, with around 60 employees.
What happens to the UK crane operation
Kobelco Cranes Europe Ltd is renamed Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe (UK). Its office stays where it is, at Unit 9, The Felbridge Centre, East Grinstead, West Sussex, and Kobelco states that the UK crane business itself is unaffected by the change.
For crane owners and rental companies in the region, the practical point is continuity of the same UK base and team, now reporting into a single European structure rather than a separate crane company.
Following the Japanese merger
The European move follows the consolidation of Kobelco Cranes Co. Ltd into Kobelco Construction Machinery Co. Ltd on 1 April 2016. Since that merger in Japan, KCM has been working through a wider reorganisation of its group companies worldwide, of which the European step is one part.
Source: Kobelco — Photos: Kobelco
At a glance
- Company: Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe B.V. (KCME)
- Representative: Makoto Kato, Managing Director
- Headquarters: Almere, the Netherlands
- Stockholder: Kobelco Construction Machinery Co. Ltd (100%)
- Scope: excavator and crane sales and service in Europe, Russia/CIS, French-speaking North Africa and Israel
- Employees: 60
- Date of consolidation: 31 December 2017
- UK office: renamed Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe (UK), East Grinstead