By Patrick Avenell

SYDNEY, NSW: Hagemeyer Brands Australia is set to restructure its brands, with Omega and Smeg to separate, and the former realigned under the MEA brand portfolio. MEA currently consists of Blanco and DeDietrich.

Speaking exclusively to Current.com.au, Hagemeyer CEO Mark Bilton said this change should not affect ordering procedures and that retailers should not be inconvenienced by this change.

The driving force behind this move is to stand Smeg out as a premium kitchen appliance offering within the Hagemeyer stable.

“We want to make sure we’ve got the brands in the right position, so we’re separating Smeg and Omega. We’re taking Omega out of the Omega Smeg business and putting it in MEA,” said Bilton.

“It gives our Smeg brand its own space and we want people to see that brand in isolation.

Moving forward, with the rest of the MEA, means we’ve got a good story with the Blanco, Omega and DeDietrich brands, and we can manage these brands. They’ve tended to compete in the past and we want to segment it and manage it a bit better.”

Bilton confirmed that this was not a cost-cutting measure and that no staff would be let go during this transition. There will, however, be internal staff changes, with 18 staff members being moved out of Omega Smeg and into MEA over the 6 six months.

[Thu 22/07/2010 01:48:55]

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