Nova Chemicals (CH-1700 Fribourg; www.novachem.com) is to employ smaller, specialised distributors in its restructured European distribution network for “NAS”, “Zylar” and “Styrosun” performance polymers. The company expects demand for the polymers to grow at double-digit rates in Europe. Nova said distributors will be able to offer application development experience with high performance polymers to designers and moulders across Europe. They will also have detailed knowledge of local customer requirements.

John Barron, business director for solid polystyrene and performance products at the Canadian group, said: “We have tested the approach of using smaller, specialised distributors, who have more targeted product portfolios, with very good results in recent years. The extremely positive reaction from our customers has led us to implement this approach throughout Europe.”