Michael Bates joins GMH UV

Industry veteran strengthens GEW’s sheetfed distributor for North America.

Michael Bates has joined GMH UV, a GEW’s sheetfed distributor for North America, as a partner to Grieg Heimbuch. He will manage sheetfed offset and wide web offset business in the Western US and Mexico, whilst Heimbuch manages the Midwest, Eastern US and Canada.

Bates has served the printing industry for over 40 years. He spent six years as a Pressman Printer, followed by 17 years in sales at Heidelberg US. He also gained subsequent experience as a press demonstrator and press salesman, including two years with KBA. Latterly, Bates has been in sales for AMS/Baldwin, for over 15 years.

Based in the Midwest, GMH UV is a dedicated partner and distributor of the GEW UV product line for the sheetfed industry in North America and provides full sales coverage throughout the territory. The company is supported by a multimillion-dollar parts inventory and a large and experienced service team at GEW Inc. in Ohio. All service and spare parts are delivered through GEW’s established infrastructure, while GMH UV focuses on sales and business development.

‘I am delighted to work with Grieg once again,’ commented Bates. ‘It’s a very exciting prospect, and the opportunities are huge. Grieg has done an amazing job building the business to date, but its great success means that more resources are urgently needed, particularly in the West.

‘Help is now at hand and I am really looking forward to getting out there to meet customers old and new. We have fantastic products to market, products that are already dominating sheetfed UV curing in the US. By joining forces in this way, we can be sure to increase GEW’s presence in the market, including that in Canada and Mexico.’