Pictured above: (l-r) UK Trade & Investment
international trade adviser Mark Sankey with RNA Automation's sales
manager Andy Perks and managing director Stuart Brettell
A Birmingham automation engineering company is taking on new
staff as a result of exporting to the USA - with help from UK Trade
& Investment.
RNA Automation, of Hayward Industrial Park, Castle Bromwich,
manufactures highly specialised automatic parts handling equipment
for high volume production.
It operates in any sector where there is a need to automate the
handling and orientation of component parts.
The company first turned to UK Trade & Investment for help
in developing its international business four years ago.
Since then, RNA Automation has seen its export sales soar from
zero to around £400,000.
An Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) report on the USA
from UK Trade & Investment's commercial staff in the market was
crucial in showing the company the best tactics to reach it.
Sales manager Andy Perks said: "We commissioned the OMIS report
prior to exhibiting at a major packaging show in Chicago called
PackExpo, with financial support from UK Trade &
Investment.
"The report helped us to understand the marketplace and showed
us how to go about selling to the USA, recommending that we deal
through agents.
"This advice was spot-on. We followed it through, won new
business following the exhibition and are now selling into the
medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and automotive sectors in the
USA.
"We estimate this business is worth about £400,000 this
year - an increase of 50 per cent on the previous year - and have
just taken on three trainee engineers to deal with the demand.
"The help from UK Trade & Investment has been superb. We
have had financial support to visit new customers in the market and
to exhibit at medical shows, firstly through the Passport to Export
scheme and more recently through the Tradeshow Access
Programme.
"We also benefited from a complimentary British Airways business
class return flight to meet and appoint a new agent in
Philadelphia, through a partnership with the airline and UK Trade
& Investment, in April.
"Our international trade adviser, Mark Sankey, is excellent. He
helped us to appoint an agency in the USA and always gives us
practical advice and support.
"We're now working with him to develop new business in the
Republic of Ireland."
Established in 1983, RNA Automation has 35 employees and an
annual turnover of approximately £3m.
In December 2009, the company joined UK Trade & Investment's
Gateway to Global Growth programme, which offers a tailored,
needs-based service with training and ongoing support for exporters
with two to ten years' experience.
This includes an in-depth export review, assistance in
formulating an international trade strategy, networking
opportunities to share best practice and signposting to funding
streams such as financial support for market visits.
International trade adviser Mark Sankey, based at Birmingham
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "RNA is an excellent
example of an innovative engineering company that is winning new
business in overseas markets and taking on new staff, having
maximised the services and support available from UK Trade &
Investment."