Pictured above: Andrew Williams, Group Chairman of Industrial Penstocks (left), with Director Paul Higginson.

Export business is flowing for a Black Country manufacturer which has won a £2m contract in a massive project to upgrade the Abu Dhabi sewage network infrastructure.

Industrial Penstocks, of Washington Street, Netherton, specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of penstocks and valves for fluid control.

The export order is for 27 very large valves up to two metres wide for a new sewage pipe network that will connect all the islands of Abu Dhabi.

The firm, which has nine employees, is part of the FJ Holdings group of companies, which concentrate on fluid control primarily in the water industry but also have clients in the cryogenics, liquefied natural gas, chemicals and oil and gas industries.

Industrial Penstocks was one of the first West Midlands businesses to join UK Trade & Investment's flagship Passport to Export scheme, which gives new exporters the training, planning and ongoing support they need to succeed overseas, and the company's export business has gone from strength to strength as a result.

Director Paul Higginson said: "From very humble beginnings as a novice exporter on the Passport to Export scheme in 2002 with the valued continued support of our then mentor Allen Matty, we have exported in excess of £1.8m, valuing the need to sell to new markets, which has culminated in the recent £2m awarded contract.

"The support from UK Trade & Investment was a great springboard for us to start exporting, and now this new order will almost double our annual turnover.

"We also have clients in the USA, Africa, the Far East, other parts of the Middle East and across Europe."

International trade adviser Allen Matty is now Operations Director of West Midlands LLP, which delivers UK Trade & Investment services in the region through the Chambers of Commerce.

He said: "To see a company go from almost zero exporting to providing key components for one of the largest infrastructure projects in the Middle East is fantastic. Passport gave Industrial Penstocks the helping hand they needed at the start and I'm glad to say they, along with hundreds of other firms across the region, have boosted their turnover by exploiting new overseas markets."

Over the past seven years, UK Trade & Investment has helped 1,500 West Midlands companies develop their export business through the Passport to Export scheme.

Participating firms benefit 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.

For more information about how UK Trade & Investment can help your business expand into new markets abroad, contact the international trade team at Black Country Chamber of Commerce on Tel: 0845 872 4293.