From salmon heads to Dubai hotels: Yorkshire businesses benefit from Export Week

ONE successful Yorkshire business has a product to power one of the world’s most glamorous hotels in Dubai and another has tapped into new markets by exporting salmon heads to Vietnam.

As part of Export Week: High Growth Markets, exploring new opportunities in international trade is being highlighted across the region.

Marking the launch of the week, TheBusinessDesk.com, in association with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) held a breakfast seminar at Thorpe Park Hotel, Leeds.

During the week, UKTI aimed to highlight opportunities in 20 high growth markets: Brazil; China; India; Turkey; Colombia; Egypt; Hong Kong; Indonesia; Malaysia; Mexico; Qatar; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Africa; South Korea; Taiwan; Thailand; UAE; and Vietnam.

Dr Alex Mardapittas is the managing director of Sheffield’s EMSc (UK), which makes energy saving devices for Premier hotels, the Whitbread Group and Asda, as well as international companies such as the Investec Bank in South Africa. The Yorkshire business exports to more than 15 countries.

EMSc, which also has an Australian subsidiary, started exporting three years ago and speaking at the event, Dr Mardapittas highlighted how exporting has helped drive its success.

He said: “Because of the type of product we sell, it doesn’t matter where we are in the world, but you have got to work out who is the right person to use the product and look at the growth of the country you want to export in.”

However, trying to get into overseas markets does bring challenges.

Mr Mardapittas said that the biggest problem for companies looking to export is “getting into bed” with the wrong firms.

He said: “We did that twice because we didn’t do our research. It cost us a lot of money and a lot of time.

“The important thing is to identify the market, find a company that wants to go into that market or are already in it. Do your research on the internet and take advantage of the help we have.”

Businesses also heard from Dave Hill who launched his Grimsby based firm – Chill Fresh Fish – 18 months ago and took advantage of the UKTI’s business tool, Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS).

Based in the Grimsby Seafood Village, after travelling in Vietnam he discovered that salmon heads were incredibly sought after there and launched into this unique market.

Mr Hill said: “It is a huge market. We knew we had to be involved in it but the problem was how to get into that country.

“We had to get an import license and this is where the UKTI helped.

“We will now turnover about $2m this year and we employ 20 people. We are an example of a small business growing very, very quickly.”

Regional manager of UKTI Yorkshire and Humber Mark Robson said he believes that growth in the UK will come from international trade, therefore exporting into high growth countries is a  key way to help the UK economy.

He said:  “We don’t need to be an economist to be able to see how important high growth markets are.

“These markets are growing very, very rapidly and we have competitors who already have been thinking about these countries. We don’t want to miss out on the opportunity.”

Mr Robson told businesses that if you can sell your product here, then there is a good chance there is an opportunity overseas.

He said: “There are many thousands of companies selling overseas. You can sell pretty much anything to anyone as long as you find someone who wants to buy it.”