Pictured above: Doug Mahoney, UKTI West Midlands International Trade Director; Alastair Henman, Director, Technical and Production, Zaun Ltd; Lord Green, Minister for Trade and Investment; Paul Painter, Director, Finance and Sales, Zaun Ltd

The newly-appointed Minister for Trade & Investment, Lord Green, has officially opened a new factory which has doubled the manufacturing capability of a Wolverhampton firm and created 40 new jobs.

Lord Green opened the 50,000 sq ft factory at Zaun, on Steel Drive in Wolverhampton, on Wednesday 2nd March. The £5 million factory will allow Zaun, which produces fencing for high security and commercial applications, to meet increasing demand for its products. Demand in the high security market in particular has been rising due to an increased importance placed upon protecting the UK's critical national infrastructure. 

Zaun supplies fences to small and large customers, including schools, railways, leisure facilities and high security premises. The company has worked with UK Trade & Investment on exporting to France and the Middle East.

Lord Green said: 

"We have an ambition in this country to turn around our export performance so that the British economy is dependent on exports to world markets rather than reliant on demand at home. 

"This will be a marathon and not a sprint. 

"But we have a great deal of talent in a lot of industry sectors in the UK and we are starting from a position of strength."

"The advanced engineering sector, in particular, is a good example of an area where there are thousands of SMEs in the supply chain, which are exporting overseas and winning business in growing markets."

Last year West Midlands companies exported £16.7 billion to countries all over the world.

Paul Painter, joint managing director at Zaun, said: 

"In spite of the recession, we have managed to grow our business year on year, which is testament to our workforce, innovative product range, service and manufacturing expertise. This new facility will further increase our productivity, boost job opportunities in the area and help retain manufacturing in the UK and provide a firm foundation for expansion into international markets."

During his visit to the West Midlands, Lord Green also met local businesspeople at Delcam in Birmingham, and attended a Meet the Buyer event there aimed at aerospace companies. More than 20 buyers from around the world attended the event to do business with West Midlands companies.