Pictured above: (l-r) Ravi Karia, Universal Textiles, Suzy Bolton UKTI, Suzannah Hutton UKTI, Julia Roeder amd Annabelle Lui

Leicester online entrepreneur Ravi Karia has increased sales for his company by 25% in a year enabling him to employ three new local people and move to larger premises, with help from UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

Sales in Germany have really heated up for Universal Textiles after UK Trade & Investment's Suzy Bolton and Suzannah Hutton found Ravi a German employee to translate website materials and liaise with German customers. 

Now he's hoping to increase sales for their thermal underwear and other winter clothing by a further 25% by employing a French speaking student. And then he's going to target the USA.

Ravi said:

"We met with UKTI last year as we were getting interest in our products from a German online retailer.  UKTI have been brilliant. They found us a native German speaker, a student at Leicester University, and now Julia has been with us for a year.  We would never have found her without UKTI.

"Julia translates all our product material for us and deals with all customer enquiries from Germany. She is fantastic and has been responsible for us gaining all these extra sales.  Before the Suzys found her for us our exports were 5% of our entire business- now they're 30%.  I was delighted by the amount of support offered by UKTI - they were so eager to help and the service is free!"

Since receiving the extra orders from Germany the firm have moved from their city centre base to premises that are five times larger in Syston. They have also been able to increase jobs by one full time and two part time employees and this is set to increase to keep up with demand: the orders increased so quickly after employing Julia that in December they had to stop taking sales from Germany as they couldn't meet the demand.

They have now been approached by an online retailer from France and so with further help from UKTI have found a French student, Annabelle, to work alongside Julia. Annabelle started two weeks ago.

Ravi said:

"Hiring native speakers has had an incredible impact on our business. Now we think Annabelle will be able to improve our sales by a further quarter by getting us the same results in France."

Suzy Bolton, International Trade Adviser for UKTI, said:

"We are here to help all firms across Leicestershire and the East Midlands to increase their business. If you want to future-proof your firm then look overseas. We can provide you with help and support on researching a new market to making a bigger impact in your existing overseas markets.

"Universal Textiles is just one company from across Leicestershire who have been able to use our services to increase its sales. Do give us a call for a chat to see what we can offer your business." 

Suzannah Hutton, Language and Culture Adviser for UKTI, said:

"By employing Julia, Universal Textiles have really demonstrated how much can be gained by speaking to the customer in their own language. She has also given the company an important insight into the business culture of the German market. 

"Our one-to-one approach with companies enables us to provide specific solutions to their international communication needs. We can offer advice on translation and hire linguists among other things. Our day long language and culture 'survival' courses can also help companies to get a lot of knowledge about their chosen market very quickly and effectively."