A Bristol-based industrial moving parts supplier has signed a major deal with a US industrial lubrication management brand.
Antifriction Components will become the first distributor to hold stock in the UK for American firm Whitmore, starting with its OilSafe range of grease equipment and oil equipment products.
Antifriction, whose head office and distribution centre is on Pioneer Park in Brislington, operates 16 depots across the UK.
It became the largest specialist distributor of its type in the UK after the firm acquired the industrial arm of the BRT Group - a British supplier of vehicle ball bearings - in a multi-million pound deal in September 2020.
The deal brought together Antifriction’s depots, largely in the west of the country, with BRT Industrial’s depots mainly in the east, to form a UK-wide network.
Founded in Bristol in 1976, Antifriction has grown from a single unit to employing almost 130 staff and supplying more than 250,000 lines including bearings, belt and chain drives, seals, motors and fluid power products.
The deal with Whitmore comes as the company is currently expanding and upgrading its Avonmouth depot serving engineering and manufacturing firms across the South West.
Antifriction’s managing director Andrew Fleming, said: “This deal will be the first time the OilSafe range has been stocked by a UK distributor, which is a great compliment to the team and recognises the investments we’ve made over the years in improving our stock and delivery facilities.
“Lubricants are the bedrock of any maintenance strategy that enables manufacturing and engineering to keep running smoothly. We’re sure Whitmore’s products will prove popular with our clients across the many heavy industries we serve across the country.”
Whitmore’s OilSafe range includes a colour-coded fluid management system to enable the standardised delivery of lubricants from bulk storage to the point of application.
Sean Harsent, Whitmore’s managing director for Europe, said the firm was “very pleased” to be partnering with Antifriction in order to further develop its products in the UK.
Craig Littler, sales director at Antifriction, added: “The OilSafe products complement our lubrication management services.
“It gives the customer complete peace of mind that they have the correct lubricant delivered to the right application in the optimum condition. This extends machine life and reduces costs and environmental impact.”
