THERE'S a new man at the helm of Japanese engineering giant Yamazaki Mazak in Worcester.

Alan Mucklow has been appointed to succeed Richard Smith as head of the company's UK and Ireland sales division, and will be responsible for all sales, applications, project engineering and service.

After four years of strong development of the UK business, Mr Smith has been promoted to deputy group managing director Europe (Operations). He will continue to be based at Mazak’s European headquarters in Badgeworth Drive, Worcester, reporting to European group managing director Marcus Burton.

Mr Mucklow has nearly two decades of experience in engineering, having first joined Mazak in 2010 as a product manager, following roles at Cincinnati Machine and MAG. He was promoted to group product manager Europe in 2012, and was the driving force behind the further development of the European Product Group, a specialist team dedicated to market-led innovation. During his time leading the European Product Group, Mazak introduced a number of market-leading machine innovations.

He will be responsible for overseeing UK sales and service support strategy, and maintaining a strong presence across key market sectors throughout the region. Mr Mucklow, started his working career as a technical apprentice within the aerospace sector and has since gone on to achieve a BA and MBA from the University of Birmingham.

European Group managing director Marcus Burton said: “Alan has been instrumental to the development of Mazak’s position in the European market. His leadership of the Product Group has ensured that our research and development and new product development in both Japan and the UK has been in line with the needs of our customers in Europe. This new role will enable Alan to take on an even more customer-focused role with direct sales responsibilities. His experience and knowledge of Mazak’s machine range and different applications will enable him to provide invaluable support to our UK customer base.”