Olympus UK and Olympus KeyMed unite to increase strength in consumer, healthcare and industrial markets

22/10/2008

Olympus in the UK is combining its Camera, Audio and Life Science businesses with its Medical and Industrial operations under one common management team.

Until now, the Olympus companies in the United Kingdom, Olympus UK Limited, based in Watford, (responsible for Camera, Audio and Life Science businesses) and Olympus KeyMed Group Limited, based in Southend-on-Sea, (responsible for Medical and Industrial businesses) have operated largely independently. The decision to combine the two companies under a common management will significantly increase the strength of Olympus in the healthcare market, allowing the organisation to offer a wide range of solutions to customers across medical and surgical endoscopy, diagnostics, microscopy and patient safety. In the industrial market it will allow the company to bring together complementary product ranges to meet the needs of customers, particularly in the areas of non-destructive testing.

With immediate effect, Paul Hillman, Group Managing Director of Olympus KeyMed, will become Managing Director of Olympus UK with overall executive responsibility for both organisations. Piers Devereux will retain his responsibilities as Joint Managing Director of Olympus UK and will work closely with Paul over the coming months to bring the two organisations closer together and maximise the clear synergies that exist, for the benefit of their customers in the United Kingdom.
Olympus business areas under the common management team will be:

Imaging & Audio (cameras, audio, binoculars)
Medical Systems (medical & surgical endoscopy, systems integration, microscopy, diagnostics)
Life Science (diagnostics, microscopy, patient safety, Advalytix products)
Industry (industrial endoscopy, high-speed video, microscopy, UT and ECT non-destructive testing instruments)

Paul Hillman explained: "The objective is to improve what we offer to our customers in terms of products, service and support – bringing together our expertise in precision optics and electronics with our considerable experience in medical and surgical endoscopy will allow us to offer so much more." He went on to explain: "Combining our Life Science and Medical businesses within an integrated management structure will allow us to fully capitalise on the obvious synergies that exist in the healthcare market and ensure we continue to meet our customers' needs, both now and in the future."

Piers Devereux added: "The changes will significantly strengthen the Olympus operations in the UK and allow us to improve our support to customers across the whole range of Olympus products, from digital cameras to medical endoscopy, from non-destructive testing to clinical chemistry."

www.olympus.co.uk

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