The Technical Seminar programme at the recent Automechanika Birmingham trade expo provided the perfect platform for ECOBAT Battery Technologies (EBT), formally Manbat, to inform and assist technicians with the direction that battery-related technology is taking in the automotive industry and the independent aftermarket particularly.
Manchester Batteries has come a long way since Harry Pemberton started the business in 1952. Now known as Manbat Ltd., the firm is a leading supplier of automotive and industrial batteries in the UK, and since 2009 has been a part of the Ecobat Technologies group, the world’s largest producer and recycler of lead. In order to extend the strong position Manbat has built up in Britain, Ecobat has consolidated it into a new company, Ecobat Battery Technologies. The new firm was officially launched last month at Automechanika Frankfurt and at IMHX 2016 in Birmingham.
Last week’s Automechanika Frankfurt show was the exhibition debut for a new name in the battery world – Ecobat Battery Technologies. The company was recently created through the consolidation of three independent businesses operating within the Ecobat group, a consortium which itself spawned from Ecobat Technologies, the world’s largest producer of lead and lead alloys. With this entirely new entity, Ecobat says it intends to “offer a unique and comprehensive battery service across Europe.”
In order to spearhead the transition from its existing individual business units to become Ecobat Battery Technologies, parent company Ecobat Technologies and the Ecobat group has recruited Philippe Desnos as vice-president and managing director of the new pan-European entity.
The UK’s largest automotive and commercial vehicle battery distributor, Manbat, is to make its second appearance at Frankfurt’s Automechanika (Stand 3.1 G65) in September. The company has planned a substantially more prominent stand, scaled up from 12sqm to 56sqm, while two other Ecobat Technologies group businesses will join it on-stand. Manbat says the event provides […]
Since leaving the ownership of the Pemberton family in 2009, Manbat has gradually become more aligned with the internal structure of the Ecobat Technologies group, while remaining faithful to its core principals of supplying its customers with quality products and service. The Manbat team aimed to ensure “business as usual” upon the change of ownership, and the success of this approach can be seen in the fact that some people remain unaware that Manbat is now part of a larger group.
Ecobat Technologies has grown its battery business with the purchase of the battery collection division of German company Must GmbH and French battery distributor Batteries Accus Technologies. Through the acquisition of Must GmbH’s battery collection vision, the European market leader in lead-based battery collection and component recycling will increase its presence in northern, eastern and central Germany, while the French deal brings a fourth European battery distribution business into Ecobat’s Global Battery Distribution Division, which also consists of Manbat (UK and Republic of Ireland), Hefra (Netherlands), ACA (Belgium).
