Jeff Blakey has been named as the managing director whose role will be to take pipe and tube specialist Van Leeuwen Wheeler forward into a major expansion programme. The company is the result of the merger, in late 2004, of independents M/K Wheeler and Van Leeuwen Precision Ltd. It offers a range of bar and pipe for the hydraulic and pneumatic, mechanical engineering and special welded tube markets. M/K Wheeler, which operated from Brierley Hill in the West Midlands and Bury in Lancashire, was a long-established business specialising in steel precision tubes, bars and components. Van Leeuwen Precision, part of the Dutch-owned Van Leeuwen Pipe and Tube Group, has had an operation in the UK for some 40 years offering precision and mechanical products. Previously managing director of stainless and aluminium coil and sheet specialist Cashmores, Jeff Blakey relishes the move to a business that he describes as "poised for growth". He says: "When I made the decision to move from my previous role last year, I was looking at the possibility of a start-up operation. However, when this opportunity arose I felt that it was exactly the sort of stimulating challenge I was looking for". "I have come into the business at a time when the merger itself is complete but before plans for the future of the business have been finalised. The basic ingredients are excellent. Two leading independents with complementary, rather than competing, businesses have come together with an extremely positive attitude from the people involved. We are backed by considerable resources but have the freedom to determine our own future and we see tremendous scope for growth into new markets". Jeff Blakey is based at Van Leeuwen Wheeler's Brierley Hill head office and warehouse. The company also has warehouses in Middlesbrough and Arbroath, with sales offices in Sheffield and Bury. Early plans for the growth of the business include major expansion of the Arbroath operation, extending into new markets, and an increased sales team. Van Leeuwen Wheeler is a subsidiary of the Van Leeuwen Pipe and Tube Group, an international distributor of steel pipe, valves and pipe components. The company, which was founded in 1924, is active in virtually all sectors of industry. The group currently has 25 locations across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Canada.

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