My business article published in Birmingham Post on Feb 24 2009
Magellan, Australia’s leading designer of high technology power electronics and renewable energy equipment has chosen Birmingham to launch its first UK operation.
The company is planning to open a centre in the city as a base for manufacturing and marketing in UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Starting in 1992, Magellan is now a multi-million dollar business with expertise in the manufacturing and supplying of advanced, high reliability AC and DC power systems for sensitive radar installations, switchgear, emergency lighting, hospital theatre lighting, oil and gas equipment and mining equipment. The company has also supplied several thousand high quality power conversion units to major projects in Australia and overseas.
Managing director Masoud Abshar said: “We have been researching the markets in the UK and Europe. Despite the generally gloomy economic climate, we are confident that there is potentially a very large market for us.”
Abshar said he was excited at the prospect of returning to Birmingham where he lived for several years before moving to Australia, 20 years ago.
Abshar added: “I’ve long harboured an ambition to put something back into the community that put me on the road to success. I owe Birmingham so much – it is where I studied after leaving Iran as a teenager, it is where I gained my degree and where I met my wife. I still have many relatives in the city. I know it will be an excellent location for the new business.”
Starting with a workforce of ten skilled persons, the company intends to triple this number within three years. Abshar hinted that the company intends to recruit local qualified people who would be provided with the necessary training.