UNIROSS is still known by many as the rechargeable brand.
UNIROSS started life in Bristol in 1968 making industrial rechargeable batteries.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s Uniross started to produce more ‘retail friendly’ ranges for every day use in more consumer friendly packaging (better card designs and information and clam pack.
Most retailers were having some success with Uniross AA Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) 800mAh batteries in a small market These early developments helped lift the image of the rechargeable battery from being a garage product to a more domestic appliance and into the larger market of the general domestic consumer.
The introduction of the 1300mAh Ni-MH in AA size in the 90’s was a revolution for retail at this time, a good-better strategy started to emerge and sales started to increase. Uniross started to drive the market by introducing on-pack promotions and the market started to grow. A while later (2002) saw the launch of the 1700mAh AA in the UK, again a first from Uniross. Then the 2000mAh AA followed shortly afterwards in 2003. This was just as the digital camera was hitting the mass market in UK and most of these cameras were using mainly AA cells.
This now gave many more consumers first hand experience of how superior rechargeable batteries were in powering ‘high drain’ appliances. They far surpassed ‘ordinary’ alkaline batteries in the number of shots that could be achieved, and you could recharge them up to 1000 times – almost too much to believe!
In 2006 Uniross launched the AA 2700mAh, still the highest performance rechargeable AA battery available today and recently awarded ‘Best Rechargeable battery’ by Channel 5’s The Gadget Show.
2006 UNIROSS also saw the start of an increase in the range of Lithium camera and camcorder rechargeable batteries to give more compatibility and consumer choice as digital cameras became more Lithium battery dependent. By this time Uniross had moved to a central European HQ just outside Paris and expanded world wide to places like China, India, Australia, South Africa and the US, buying several companies along the way.
In 2007 Uniross was the first battery company to launch a pre-charged, ready-to-use rechargeable battery in the UK – Now known as ‘Ultra’ – using Hybrio® technology.
Because of the environmentally benefits of the rechargeable battery, Uniross were also the only battery brand to have been endorsed by the biggest environmental organisation (the World Wildlife Fund) and have carried the WWF logo on their packs.
Then a combination of massive raw material cost increases for Nickel (250% increase at one point) poor exchange rates and poor performing company acquisitions led to a re-financing of the Uniross business in 2009. It was the huge Eveready Industries India Ltd that saw the opportunity and potential and invested in the Uniross global business in mid 2009. Thanks to Eveready Industries, Uniross has increased it’s product portfolio to include an extended range of rechargeable and non rechargeable batteries, over 120 digital camera and camcorder Lithium batteries, AA Lithium primary batteries, an entire range of the latest (EUP) European Directive compatible Power supplies, a full range of LED torches and more Product Development to follow, including 5 new battery chargers due for launch in Summer/Autumn 2010
A new Uniross strategy is to increase their availability in the UK and Ireland markets by working closely with a limited number of distributors. They are:
Supreme Imports, Anand International, Peat wholesale (Ireland only) and Jeff Scowen (for the Photographic and imaging market).
Jeff Scowen in particular has been for many years virtually a Uniross only wholesaler of rechargeables and thereby synonymous with the brand. They stock all of the photographic and imaging products including every one of the growing 150 range of Uniross digital camera and camcorder batteries. These distributors cover the whole UK and Ireland market, and Uniross are proud to be associated with all of them.
Specially prepared to support the photographic market, Uniross have the very latest battery compatibility brochure, which features over 8,000 cameras and camcorders. This is available to all UK retailers and e-tailers in paper and PDF form and updated regularly. If you want one, please contact your battery distributor or Uniross directly. The Uniross ‘Battery Finder’, which allows you to search for the right battery by brand and make of the camera, will also feature on the new look Uniross website, which is being re-launched in September 2010.
Filed under JSP News & Special Offers