Apex international sales manager Rik Hoerée explains that the move follows the company's launch of operations in Holland at the beginning of 2005, and is a direct result of the growing demand of both customers and suppliers to have solid distribution-partners with highly experienced in-house technical staff. In line with this, former SAV representative Laurent Laignel has been appointed sales engineer for Apex France. "We wanted to kick off with brands of which we have already gained good knowledge and results, both technically and commercially, so that we can offer this same expertise to the French market," says Hoerée.
When Apex began working with DiGiCo in Belgium they instigated a free engineer training programme that resulted in a good understanding of digital mixing and thus a dramatic improvement of 'in-the-field' experiences, say the company. "We will start this programme for France during February," continues Hoerée. "There will be dedicated training sessions for engineers, giving them the ability to get real hands-on experience with the DiGiCo D5 and D1 consoles. The training seminars will be held at various rental company premises, enabling us to reach the maximum amount of engineers. Each engineer will, after successfully passing tests, get a certificate as an 'Approved DiGiCo Live Engineer'."
He adds: "We are also working with Riedel Communications and, while DiGiCo has become Belgium's leading digital mixing console, Riedel is building market share quickly. Having these two product ranges in France will allow us to put our technical know-how to work within a bigger European structure."
DiGiCo sales director James Gordon adds, "Apex have done a fantastic job for us in Belgium and we are certain that having them handling distribution in France will significantly raise both our profile and sales in this territory."
Paul Van Hees, managing director of Apex concludes: "We believe we can serve the French market very well with the professional support that we are already known for. We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead."
(Lee Baldock)
