Pictured: Doug Mahoney, UK Trade & Investment's international trade director for the West Midlands and Shane Sutherland, Pebble Learning's Director of Development outside the company's offices at the E-Innovations Centre, Telford

Two innovative Shropshire companies played host to Doug Mahoney, UK Trade & Investment's (UKTI) international trade director for the West Midlands on 28th September, to show how they are expanding into new markets overseas.

Doug Mahoney visited Shoothill Ltd of Shrewsbury and Pebble Learning of Telford, to discuss their current and future export strategies.

Shoothill Ltd, based at Battlefield Enterprise Park, Shrewsbury is a Microsoft software developer specialising in creating bespoke software solutions for clients such as Microsoft, MSN, BT, The Imperial War Museum, Fauna and Flora International, Lebara and a number of primary health care trusts. 

Shoothill, which has eleven employees, is also widely regarded as the world's leading developer of Microsoft 'Deep Zoom' applications which allow users to pan around and zoom into a large, high resolution image or a large collection of images. The company has created some of the largest Deep Zooms in the world, featuring hundreds of thousands of images within one giant mosaic. Using this technology, Shoothill has created a wide range of images for clients, such as a digital portrait of William and Kate on their wedding day made up of thousands of images that well-wishers uploaded on the day, and the mosaic of Charles Darwin, composed of scanned images of the entire contents of his famous work 'On The Origin of Species' created for Shropshire Tourism. 

In the international arena, the firm recently created a series of limited edition prints for the UN featuring a mosaic of 10,000 striking images showing the plight of international refugees. 

Set up in 2006, Shoothill began exporting to the USA earlier this year with a contract with MSN and Summit Films to create an online Facebook competition. The company has also just won a contract with a film production company to create an online marketing campaign for an upcoming film release in India, with the assistance of UKTI and Intra Trade West Midlands. 

The company has now started to look at joining the UKTI's Gateway to Global Growth programme for experienced exporters. 

Tim Welch, Shoothill Sales and Operations Manager says: 

"Exports are a small, but rapidly growing percentage of our overall turnover.  We have had fantastic support from Richard Smith our International Trade Advisor. He has assisted us with funding; arranged market research and also connected us to his colleagues at Intra Trade who have provided insight into the Indian market and connected us with individuals and organisations that can add value to our work and allow us to make better decisions. Richard has definitely been instrumental in our recent overseas success. As a result, we have now recruited a new member of staff in the US and are now researching other markets.

Tim continues: 

"UKTI really does add enormous value for companies looking at international markets. They can provide funding for research trips and connect you with their colleagues allowing you to gain invaluable local knowledge. UKTI advisors are experts in their field and help you mitigate a lot of the risk with their wealth of knowledge."

Shoothill is now looking to expand its development team and is keen to speak with talented software developers who may wish to join the company on this exiting stage of its growth.

UK Trade & Investment International Advisor, Richard Smith says: 

"Shoothill is an innovative company which is definitely going places. I'm excited about the prospect of working with them to develop further opportunities in global markets." 

Pebble Learning based at the E-Innovations Centre, University of Wolverhampton, Telford campus is a revolutionary software design company specialising in the development of electronic portfolios and personal learning systems. 

Founded in 2004 by two e-learning specialists, Colin Dalziel and Shane Sutherland, the company works with a range of educational institutions and public and private sector companies to provide professional online personal learning systems. The firm's 'PebblePad' enables users to record activity and create online evidence of their skills and capabilities and is now the  most popular tool of its type in the company's two main markets - the UK and Australia. 

Pebble Learning now employs 22 staff and has an annual turnover of £1 million. A significant part of the company's success is down to its export activity. 

Shane Sutherland, Pebble Learning's Director of Development explains: 

"We started our export journey in February 2008 when, with grant assistance from UK Trade & Investment, we attended a conference and conducted a promotional tour of Australia. We determined that there was sufficient demand for our product to warrant entering the market there and we now have 16 Australian universities and professional organisations using PebblePad. Since then, thanks to help we've received from UKTI, we have not only established an international office in Tasmania, but we have also built up valuable customers in Ireland, Germany, New Zealand and the USA. There is also very strong demand for our software in the Middle East. Our goals for 2012 are to extend into the Middle East and further into North America. 

"UKTI has been extremely helpful, with both advice and financial support in our early overseas adventures, and our exports are now worth 20 per centof our overall turnover. We anticipate drawing upon their support extensively to assist our expansion into the US markets." 

Today, Pebble Learning has 120 university and professional organisations licensing PebblePad with 25 of those being international customers.

The company completed UKTI's Passport to Export scheme for new exporters in 2007 immediately prior to their first Australian visit. Since then, UKTI has helped the company access a range of programmes and grants to help increase Pebble Learning's export activity. The firm recently won two prestigious awards: Company of the Year - Shropshire Business Awards 2011; and IMS Global Learning Impact Award 2010 - Platinum Award. 

UK Trade & Investment International Advisor, Christine Armistead says: 

"Pebble Learning has a fantastic product which is adaptable to many markets, making it an ideal proposition for export. I look forward to continuing to work with the company to meet its business export objectives."

Doug Mahoney says: 

"I was delighted to see for myself how Shoothill Ltd and Pebble Learning are winning substantial new business in overseas markets. They are a great example to other companies and show that with the right products and services, you can compete successfully on a worldwide stage.

"Independent evidence shows that successful exporters grow faster and are more competitive, profitable and innovative than companies that rely on the UK market. 

"We at UK Trade & Investment are here to help businesses to trade internationally. Last year, we worked with 250 Shropshire companies, mostly providing bespoke advice, assistance, and support to visit markets overseas.

"I would urge any firm in the county thinking about exporting to contact our international trade team at Shropshire Chamber of Commerce."