Industry partner for tapes producer

Neil Howie is managing director of Austen Instant Tapes, having engineered a management buy-out of two sister companies some 20 years ago and combined their operations into the present structure in 2012. "We are looking to mutually grow the businesses with tesa on the basis of partnership working", he commented, "it's a close relationship which I believe delivers a very high standard of service to the end-user – the concept known as tesacohesion – and we expect it to increase our penetration in the market." Austen Instant Tapes is a specialist supplier to industry with a broad range of customers, especially across the light manufacturing market. "Our customer base is very diverse," added Howie. "and not really dominated by any one sector. Our business extends from simple packaging tapes as used in despatch areas or the loading bay right up to high-spec double-sided products which form an integral part of production processes, in high tech industries such as aerospace, avionics and automotive." The relationship between tesa and Austen Instant Tapes goes back some 30 years, almost the entire time that Neil Howie has been involved in the tapes and adhesives business. The decision to partner with tesa is based on a like-minded approach to product quality and service values. "tesa's product range is technically orientated and noted for a high level of performance which is recognised throughout Europe," said Howie. "And that relates well to our philosophy. We're not simply interested in selling a few rolls of tape, but in developing long-term relationships with customers, based on the measurable benefits we can bring to their business." For the future Howie is enthusiastic about the opportunities associated with new product developments such as tesa's ACXplus range with its glass-clear products and double-sided pure acrylic ultra-transparent tapes. He also sees huge potential in the movement of manufacturing sectors towards the use of composites in pursuit of better power-to-weight ratios, reduced carbon emissions and improved sustainability. These he argues will provide more opportunities for really high specification tapes.