IAL partner with General Paint UK
International Applications (IAL) and General Paint UK have announced details of a strategic partnership which sees the Oxfordshire-based coatings and consumables supplier taking General Paint to market through its network of refinish distributors.
General Paint is one of the fastest-growing producers of car paints and ancilliaries for the refinish industry with a heritage which stretches over five decades and a market presence in more than 60 countries. Its paint range comprises specialist and general-purpose 2K compliant, solvent and waterbased systems, a constantly-updated library of more than 87,000 colours and a comprehensive selection of A-grade ancilliaries including clearcoats, primers and activators.
Dean Royal, CEO General Paint UK, said, ‘We plan to take our products across the length and breadth of the UK by building upon our international reputation for the accuracy of our colour match and the high quality of our premium finishes. To do this we need to work with partners who have the drive, innovation and market presence to represent our proposition throughout the refinish industry.’
‘Our first-class products need a first-class distribution representative and I am delighted to announce we have appointed International Applications as our key business partner within the UK.’
Llewelyn Mulder, IAL’s managing director, said, ‘I have a long personal connection with General Paint, having established it as a leading brand within the African continent, and was keen to be involved with its distribution in the UK. IAL is pleased to be able to offer the full General Paint range to our distributors. We are already booking our first installations and look forward to a long and productive relationship with the General Paint UK team.’
IAL, which acquired the Trade Group in May 2015, has recently expanded its operations by opening offices in South Africa and South America. It takes paints, coatings and consumables to the UK refinish market through independent distributors.
General Paint, founded in 1959, entered the automotive refinish market in the 1970s and introduced waterborne technology in the 2000s. Its product range includes GenRock and Gen2O. Its GPC Pro software gives bodyshops access to a database of over 87,000 colours for all major vehicle manufacturers and international standards, with new colours formulated daily and added weekly for online colour retrieval.
