Pictured above: Adam Vicary, managing director of Chamberlin & Hill Castings, is pictured left with Terry Wood, UK Trade & Investment's head of international trade at Black Country Chamber of Commerce.

A traditional Walsall foundry is beating the recession by finding new markets for leading-edge products that reduce vehicle emissions, with help from UK Trade & Investment.

Chamberlin & Hill Castings, of Chuckery Road, was founded nearly 120 years ago and manufactures iron castings for passenger cars and hydraulic applications.

Its vehicle components are specifically designed to enable the turbocharging of cars to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and are used by global car companies such as Mercedes, Audi, VW and Porsche.

The company has 120 employees and an annual turnover of approximately £12m, of which about 60 per cent is export business.

A year ago, Chamberlin & Hill had to reduce its workforce by 40 because of the economic downturn but it is now expecting business to grow significantly, mainly in international markets.

Managing director Adam Vicary said: "In the teeth of the recession, we have developed new products that are at the forefront of helping to reduce vehicle emissions.

"We have recently won new business with a Tier 1 turbocharger supplier based in Italy and Germany, which sells into the Japanese car market. This contract is expected to increase our turnover by up to a third over the next two years.

"Our international trade adviser, Terry Wood, gave us valuable guidance with this contract, particularly by helping us to identify potential markets and customers and advising us on how to reach them.

"We had previously worked with UK Trade & Investment through its Passport to Export programme, which provided us with a very useful overview on exporting." 

Chamberlin & Hill is also exporting to Poland and Slovakia, has recently finished a major contract in Singapore and has just started to sell to Hungary.

The company is now looking to expand its business in the Far East with the help of UK Trade & Investment.

Terry Wood, head of international trade at Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said: "Chamberlin & Hill has developed a range of products which are saleable internationally. The team's approach to developing into the south east Asian market will further their export opportunities."

UK Trade & Investment's flagship Passport to Export scheme gives new exporters the training, planning and ongoing support they need to succeed overseas.

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. 

Chamberlin & Hill completed the scheme several years ago.