Christmas has come early for a Leicester training firm who have sealed overseas deals worth over £1.5 million, with help from UK Trade & Investment.

Local management training specialists, Exponential Training & Assessment, has won several contracts worth over £1.5 million in South Africa, Europe and the Caucasus. The contracts will create at least two graduate jobs as well as securing another six positions.

The deal will see Exponential run leadership and management training courses in South Africa on behalf of a government skills agency. The European projects will see the firm translate several of its on-line management skills assessments and e-learning modules into multiple languages.

Exponential Training & Assessment, established in 1999, originally served the UK market, but they were keen to branch out overseas - now over 85 per cent of their sales are international.

John Moore, who founded the Company said that with advise from UK Trade & Investment, international growth had helped the company succeed despite difficult economic times.

John said: "Winning the contracts has taken a lot of hard work - we have visited South Africa on three UK Trade & Investment missions and had at least ten meetings with Services Sector Education Training Authority (SSETA) in both the UK and South Africa over the past three years. In order to win the business it's important to develop good relationships with the right people and raise levels of trust, as well as making sure we present the UK offer in a way that our services are relevant to each overseas market."

John's advice to other companies keen to enter export markets is work hard, be focussed and make sure your product offering is relevant to your chosen market.

He added:

"We are very proactive in our research to ensure that on trade missions our diary is absolutely packed with meetings. We roll up our sleeves and get stuck in. When we're out on a market visit we work from the minute we land to the minute we leave, with meetings with leads squeezed in at every possible opportunity. Building up overseas work can be very time consuming, but for us it has proved worthwhile."

Peter Hogarth, the UK Trade & Investment's East Midlands International Trade Director said:

"Exponential Training & Assessment's success overseas shows how Leicestershire firms are leading the regional recovery and helping the East Midlands to grow its exports at a rate of ten per cent, well ahead of any domestic growth. 

"By exporting, companies like Exponential are creating more jobs to help see the country out of its current situation."