HISTORY OF FORGROVE GMBH, COLOGNE, GERMANY

Was established in 1956 by the Forgrove Machinery Company to develop what was then a small market previously handled by an agent. The new company's first success came in selling bread wrapping machines despite the fact that German bread does not favour automatic wrapping equipment.

Business increased so much that their rented premises in Cologne soon became inadequate and in 1962, new offices, with demonstration rooms and servicing facilities, were built near Cologne Airport and autobahn.

The company's first employee was Herr Walter Koppe, a sales representative for the Hamburg area. Eddie Kalfayan was the managing director. By 1965, Forgrove GmbH employed a staff of 40, thirty of whom worked from the Cologne office and the rest covered Germany, Austria and Switzerland. An agreement was signed in 1966 making Forgrove GmbH sole agents for the Baker Perkins Jaxons range of laundry equipment in Germany.

Forgrove GmbH, installed a new computer-controlled spares system in 1967. Sales of spares were increasing by 30-50% each year and uncontrolled stocks scattered over several countries in Europe were causing months of delay in charging customer for parts. As a result, stocks of surplus spares were reduced by a quarter, a reduced staff were able to deal with double the volume in the same space and 90% of standard orders were supplied by return of post.

With the formation of Rose Forgrove in 1967, Forgrove GmbH became Rose Forgrove GmbH.

The Cologne packaging sales office was sold to the Howden Group with the rest of the Rose Forgrove business in January 1993.