FRENCH firm JPM Group has announced the appointment of West Midlands-based Bevan Group as its sole UK distributor.
UK-based operators of light tippers and dropsiders can take advantage of ‘ultra-quick’ turnaround times on a range of aluminium and steel bodywork.
Bevan Group said that initially, provided it has at least six weeks’ notice of a chassis’ arrival, it can fit a JPM body and have the finished vehicle ready for collection the following day. Going forward, Bevan plans to carry stock bodies for even shorter lead times.
Roy Shelton, Bevan Group sales director, said, “This is great news for operators across a broad spectrum of business activities, who in some cases have had to wait months to get their vehicles built.”
Under the new agreement, Bevan Group will assemble JPM’s complete product portfolio across three of its production facilities in the Black Country and another in Merseyside. Bevan Group is already working on its first order, which is for 164 all-aluminium rear-end and three-way tipping bodies. These are being fitted to 3.5-tonne Nissan chassis and will then be delivered to a number of local authorities in Scotland.
JPM Group is one of Europe’s specialist manufacturer of aluminium dropsiders and tippers for commercial vehicles up to 7,500kg.
The company is a ‘one-stop shop’ partner to Renault, Renault Trucks and the Stellantis brands of Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat and Opel (Vauxhall), fitting its bodywork on line at their factories. JPM also has direct supply agreements in France with Iveco and Mercedes-Benz.
JPM Group export manager, Nathalie Bordas, commented, “Bevan Group is exactly the kind of partner we like to work with. Our two companies are similar in size, both family-owned, and share a philosophy of driving growth through premium products and high-quality service.”
General Manager Daniel Bevan and Roy Shelton made a fact-finding tour of JPM Group’s production facilities last summer, while Bevan hosted Ms Bordas and colleagues in December, when the agreement was signed.
“Bevan Group has a very good reputation,” she continued. “Roy and his team have excellent contacts with the manufacturers and customers here in the UK, and we are confident that they can be trusted to develop our business and protect our brand in this important market.”
