Dantec drives exports with Danish deal

COMPOSITE hose manufacturer Dantec has agreed a deal with a Danish distributor as part of drive to grow exports.

The Wirral-based company, which makes composite hose for the transfer of petrol, oil products, chemicals and liquefied gases, says the link with Fontenay A/S is its 49th distribution deal, and its 41st in overseas markets.

Sales through its distributor network accounts for some 70% of its £5.6m turnover.

Interested in exports? Download our International Trade supplement, sponsored by DLA Piper and RSM Tenon, by clicking here. 

Dantec managing director John Laidlaw says the deal with Fontenay A/S will be a “building block” in helping the company grow sales to £6.5m in the next financial year.

The contract will focus on selling Dantec’s Danoil hoses to the Danish market. Danoil hoses are used to transfer petrol and oil-based products between fuel trucks and storage tanks in filling stations or storage terminals.

Mr Laidlaw said: “Fontenay is a fuel industry specialist. The firm only promotes a select range of products which enables it to focus on us, our key selling points and our target customers. Fontenay has excellent contacts and real depth of expertise in the petrochemical sector in Denmark.

“The EU region is struggling with the recession and sales are slower as a result. So it is vital to find dynamic distributors who can make things happen.”

Mr Laidlaw estimates that the global composite hose sector is worth around £45m and Dantec is only ‘scratching the surface’ of the market.

“We are working our socks off right now promoting the business overseas. Europe is only one element of our sales drive. We have just come back from South Korea where we are making great contacts in an effort to crack its shipbuilding market, as well as its tanker operator and tank terminal sectors.

“We are also due to stage a reception in the British Embassy in Singapore in December. We will use this as a platform to promote Dantec’s sales drive in South East Asia and we are expecting guests from Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. The region has huge potential for us as a hub of global transport and shipping.”