3 Become 1 - Waters & Stanton, Nevada and InnovAntennas Join Forces!

In a statement on Facebook today Nevada Radio, Waters & Stanton and InnovAntennas have announced that they are joining forces:

"Three of the UKs leading Ham Radio retailers and manufacturers have come together to form the “International Ham Stores Group” which will operate from a combined showroom and distribution centre at Portsmouth from April 1st 2017. 

A ‘soft start’ migration to Portsmouth will commence for both Waters & Stanton and InnovAntennas from their current Hockley facility to Portsmouth in January 2017. This strategy is being employed to ensure a smooth transition with least disruption to day to day operations to ensure a seamless migration from a customers perspective.

The combined power of the three companies, Waters & Stanton, Nevada Radio and InnovAntennas, will undoubtedly make them Europe’s largest Amateur radio conglomerate. Spokesman for the group Justin Johnson G0KSC said “We are excited at the prospect of working in partnership, to bring new products and un-paralleled service to the Hobby Radio enthusiast and professional alike. We have ambitious plans for growth and new ideas to engage with our loyal customer base. We will also be appealing to new customers that may not have considered our individual group members in the past, adding value with the vastly increased product range that the “IHSG” group will offer.

The three companies will continue to trade under their own names, but combine resources for logistics, marketing, repairs and customer service which will streamline costs and overheads to provide a more competitive ‘one stop shop’ solution for our customers.

IHS Group will become the largest importer of hobby radio related products in the UK supplying Ham radio, CB Radio and Scanner Radio retailers along with major retailers including Maplin and Amazon. Professional and PMR services will also be focused upon by the newly formed Business Radio Division.

As a part of the planned growth, IHS are recruiting in many areas of the business from Antenna fabrication through to web management and logistics. Any radio enthusiast within commuting distance of Portsmouth that wants to be a part of the IHS story should forward CV’s to BeBest@IHSG.co.uk for more information on IHSG group and our proposed services and brands, write to IHSG@IHSG.co.uk"

I guess this sort of partnership is inevitable when retailers are struggling in an ever decreasing market. Costs are up and sales are down.

How long before we end up with just one or two 'big players' in the radio market?????