Wolfgang Garçon, former managing director of Atlantic Audio, with whom the British loudspeaker manufacturer has been associated for a number of years, has left to set up new distribution company, UnitedB in Düsseldorf. The headquarters will be based in Segro-Rhein-Park, an industrial estate in the southern part of the city.
UnitedB - which stands for United Brands for Event Technology - has already started to put together a portfolio of leading brands. On landing Martin Audio, Garçon stated, "We are delighted that Martin Audio has become part of the new UnitedB family. We have a long relationship with the company and look forward to achieving further success in all their key installation, event and touring sectors."
"Martin Audio has just added to its MLA product range with the introduction of MLA Mini, a system ideal for smaller spaces. Now with 3 Systems, Martin Audio impressively underlines its leading role in the question: 'What comes after the line array?' The touring market, in particular, is looking for a future secure investment and an alternative to the standards of recent years. We therefore look forward to many interesting conversations."
Martin Audio managing director, Anthony Taylor adds, "At Martin Audio we have a passion for uniting audiences both in live sound environments and permanent installations, and the approach laid out by UnitedB lends itself perfectly to this vision.
"We were seeking a deeper attention to the market place, a distributor that would get to the levels of detail in understanding different vertical market opportunities, and have the focus and determination to ensure Martin Audio can be at the forefront of these.
"Our breadth of range and our leading MLA technology has yet to be fully realised in the German market, but we believe that Wolfgang and his team will help deliver this. As a consequence, audiences will benefit, live productions will be more successful, and permanently installed venues will be repeatedly busy."
For Wolfgang Garçon the new enterprise has rekindled his passion for the business, having taken a 12-month break to consider his future options after leaving Atlantic Audio.
"I realised that this is what I was best placed to do, and shared my thoughts and discussed options with key manufacturers; they concluded that the advantages of conducting commerce via a distributor outweighed those of direct sales."
The new company promised a strongly-focused and specialised support for all target markets, a fast response time and independent viewpoint between suppliers and clients. "When a challenge presents itself we will solve it by thinking outside the box," Wolfgang Garçon continues. "We have no intention of building up a large brand portfolio but rather concentrate on a few remarkable brands, such as Martin Audio, for whom we can provide dynamic, fully managed representation."
(Jim Evans)
