Staffs firms benefit from Indonesian trade mission
TWO Staffordshire firms have secured orders worth tens of thousands of pounds after embarking on a trade mission to Indonesia.
The mission was supported by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), which provided specialist advice from its commercial team at the British Embassy in Jakarta.
ATF Textiles, of Milford, designs and supplies innovative adhesive tapes to give clothing, particularly shirts, flat, pucker-free seams. The seam tape can be found in high fashion and designer labels, industrial workwear, school uniforms and corporate clothing.
Company director Alistair Banks said: “I visited an existing customer in Jakarta – a manufacturing firm which currently produces one million shirts per month. (It) is going to increase this by up to 20% with the use of one of our new tapes trialled and tested during the visit.
“As a result, our turnover will increase substantially as the new tape and garment design goes into production.”
ATF Textiles has been working with UKTI for five years and exports 98% of its products.
Hygan Products, of Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, has developed a comprehensive range of consumable products for the ceramics sector, including synthetic sponge products and high quality brushes. It has been working with UK for 15 years.
Joint managing director Jon Hewitt said: “I visited our existing customers and several potential new customers.
“The comments were very favourable and we have been asked to provide samples and quotations, which I am confident will lead to us gaining at least three new clients over the next few months. About 70% of our turnover is export business and much of this is to the Far East, where the economy is continuing to grow.”
UKTI international trade adviser Robert Lawley, based at North Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, who organised the visit, said: “Indonesia is one of UKTI’s identified growth markets, but already UK exports to the country amount to £350m, so as a market for West Midlands companies it certainly has tremendous potential.”
Indonesia’s population is 240 million – the fourth highest in the world – and with significant investment secured for the future, Mr Lawley said it was set to be one of the major economies in South East Asia.
“GDP growth was 6.1% year on year in 2008 and 4.5% in 2009, and a healthy forecast of 5.5% has been made by the government for 2010.
“Companies like ATF Textiles and Hygan Products have entered the market early and I’m sure that as the economy grows, so will their sales. It’s definitely a country that many more companies should consider as part of their export strategy,” he added.
