Pictured: Nick Houghton, managing director of New English Teas, is pictured right with UK Trade & Investment international trade adviser Brian Mountford.

Success is brewing in overseas markets for a Coventry supplier of speciality teas - with help from UK Trade & Investment.

New English Teas, of Spitfire Close, Coventry Business Park, specialises in the supply of high value gift packed teas and associated giftware.

Established in 1985 by the great-grandson of Arthur Brooke, of Brooke Bond fame, the company sells its products to gift stores, hamper firms, travel retailers and other specialist outlets. It has five employees.

In spring 2007, New English Teas joined UK Trade & Investment's flagship Passport programme, which gives new exporters the training, planning and ongoing support they need to succeed overseas, and recently completed the scheme.

The company has benefited from a package of support, including a free export health check, attendance at an export workshop, assistance in formulating an international trade strategy and matched funding to help implement this strategy, quality training and mentoring advice and access to the full range of UK Trade & Investment services.

Managing director Nick Houghton said: "Before we contacted UK Trade & Investment, our export sales were small and reactive. "Through Passport, we developed an export strategy and visited exhibitions in New York and Paris with financial support from the programme.

"We are now exporting to Russia and trading direct with several speciality gift companies, tea stores and department stores in the USA, and with a number of tea stores in France. Over the past year, we've sold tens of thousands of boxes of tea to customers overseas, and exports now make up about 30 per cent of our overall business."

"Our international trade adviser, Brian Mountford, has been a great sounding board for our ideas and helped us look at new avenues to explore."

"UK Trade & Investment also helped us source finance from the European Regional Development Fund to develop translations and packaging for overseas markets, which has been a big help, especially for a small company like ours."

International trade adviser Brian Mountford, based at Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "It has been a pleasure to help New English Teas to develop its export sales. The company's strategic use of UK Trade & Investment services and its worldwide network has assisted it to target a number of key markets with great success."

For more information about how UK Trade & Investment can help your business expand into new markets abroad, contact the international trade team at Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce on Tel: 02476 654321.