Monday 15:05
Tewkesbury sheepskin trader Tom Cooke has broken into the difficult market of China after getting help from UK Trade & Investment.
Tom's company TradskinCo Ltd has exported four container loads of sheepskins, worth $130,000 to a tannery in China
The deal follows a market research report arranged by UK Trade & Investment's International Trade Team at Business Link Gloucestershire and participation in a UK Trade & Investment trade mission to the country.
Tom, who has been in the sheepskin business for many years, had already built up a solid international trade in Europe through his own contacts. He recognised that China was his next target market, but was notoriously difficult to break into.
After several unsuccessful attempts to develop contacts in the market, Tom approached Sarah Hildersley at the International Trade Team in Business Link Gloucestershire to see if UK Trade & Investment could help.
"I had contacted several leather companies whose details I'd found on the internet but no amount of faxes, emails and phone calls seemed to lead to any interest," explained Tom.
"The China market is notoriously difficult and I get the impression that business people there value the status of contacts coming from a more official Government-backed source. Sarah Hildersley and her team were a huge help. They commissioned an OMIS market research report for me, which led to a number of contacts in the industry. They also arranged for me to take part in a trade mission to Beijing and Shanghai, where I was able to pursue some of the contacts and arrange meetings."
It was one of these contacts, a leather company which provides fashion leather products to the USA and Russia, which was most interested in Tom's products and after meeting him during the trade mission, they visited his premises in Tewkesbury. Tom has just completed the shipment of four containers of sheepskins to the company and is hoping to follow this up with two more.
A remarkable coincidence has also helped him pursue his business interests in China. During a hospital stay following treatment for a heart condition last year, Tom found himself in a hospital bed opposite a doctor from Beijing. He kept in touch with the doctor and visited his friends during the trade mission and the doctor's wife now helps as a translator for Tradskin.
Sarah Hildersley, UK Trade & Investment International Trade Adviser at Business Link Gloucestershire, said:
"China is a fast growing market and potentially a very lucrative one, but it can be a very hard nut to crack and can require patience and persistence.
Finding the right contacts in this huge market can be very difficult and the benefit of UK Trade & Investment services, such as OMIS reports, is that we have people actually on the ground in each market to help provide the information and make the contacts. Tom was really struggling to find buyers through his own efforts, but our teams in Beijing and Shanghai were able to pinpoint the most promising potential customers for him. Careful, targeted research had ensured the contacts provided to Tom were the most likely to be interested in his products, which saved him valuable time and meant he could go straight to the right people. OMIS reports are hugely successful way of helping UK SMEs to broach markets where they have few contacts; they are also subsidised by the Government and so they are excellent value for money.
I am delighted that Tom has had success in China so far and I hope this will lead to more business in the future."
Further information on UK Trade & Investment services is available from the International Trade Team at Business Link Gloucestershire on 01242 863863.
Notes to Editors
1. UK Trade & Investment is leading a major new initiative to develop international trade between the South West region and the Guandong Province in China. China is a vast country with a population of 1.29 billion and the UK is currently the sixth largest investor in China and the leading EU investor. It is one of the fastest growing markets in the world offering huge trade and investment opportunities for British companies. Although the largest share of British investment comes from industrial giants, a number of smaller, specialist British operators have now begun investing in the market.
UK Capabilities fit in well with China's priorities: transportation, telecoms, power generation, chemicals and petrochemicals, agriculture and food processing. And as the economy develops, more opportunities are opening up in areas like consumer goods, the environment, healthcare, education, tourism, marine, fire and security.
The Regional International Trade Strategy, recently published by UKTI and the South West RDA, predicts that exports to China will grow at more than 35% a year and the growth of exports to China is projected to contribute around 20% of the total growth in South West exports up to 2008. In 2003 Guangdong's GDP grew 13.6%, over 5% higher than the national average and the provincial economy is now bigger than the economies of most South East Asian Countries.
2. UK Trade & Investment is the government organisation that provides integrated support services for UK companies engaged in overseas trade and foreign businesses focused on the UK as an inward investment location. It brings together the work of teams in British embassies and FCO posts overseas and government departments across Whitehall. In England, international trade support is coordinated by nine International Trade Directors working in partnership with each Regional Development Agency. UK Trade & Investment services are delivered locally through a network of International Trade Teams typically located in Business Link operators or Chambers of Commerce. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements for local delivery of services. For more information visit the web site http://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
Issued on behalf of UK Trade & Investment by Government News Network South West and Wales.
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