Ines Ebersberger is new managing director of United Imaging Group

GaryPageau , , ,
Ines Ebersberger, managing director, United Imaging Group (UIG)

At its Dec. 5 meeting, the Board of Directors of the United Imaging Group unanimously appointed Ines Ebersberger, the previous authorized signatory and head of the finance, to managing director effective from January 1, 2020. She remains head of the finance department.

Ebersberger has been with the company since 2001 and has contributed significantly to the success of the company, according to a statement.

“I am very pleased that the board of directors is taking the strong growth of the company into account with this decision and with Ms. Ebersberger,” says the former general manager Michael Gleich.

In a report in the German trade publication, Fotowirtschaft.de, United Imaging Group held its first trade fair for photo dealers Sept. 27-29 in Nuremberg, since the merger of Ringfoto and Europafoto in May.

According to the report, United Imaging Group is Europe’s largest photo association and now supplies more than 1,800 photo shops.

Thanks to the additional sales of Europafoto members, which have been included in the overall result since July, the cumulative sales from January to August 2019 are up 15.7 percent on the previous year. The special effect that results from the new members, but also the turnover with existing customers in the comparable period is an increase of 3.6 percent. Thus, the United Imaging Group shows a clearly opposite development to the market. And sales, including subsidiaries abroad and new members, are up 16 percent, which is extremely positive.

Growing product categories for the group are mirrorless camera systems (+45 percent), video (+49 percent), video accessories (+91 percent), mobile communications (+172 percent) and its exclusive Voigtländer brand with an increase of 51 percent. The SLR area has also declined significantly at the United Imaging Group in line with market developments (-26 percent). Nevertheless, reflex cameras are still the third most important product group at UIG.

“In particular the Canon EOS 90D, as well as the Alpha 7R MK IV from Sony and the new, high-quality lenses from Panasonic, are products that are tailored precisely to the photo trade,” says Werner Schneider, head of purchasing, for the group, was quoted. “They appeal to a demanding group of customers and require exactly the form of advice that only specialist retailers can offer today. ”