South West businesses urged to take international leap
A more international outlook could make all the difference for South West businesses seeking new paths to growth in 2012, according to a round table of business leaders convened by Insider and Deloitte.
Paul Stevenson of Wall to Wall Sunshine said: "Export is the big opportunity. We've been insular for far too long, but the British brand is really well respected – there's a lot of honesty and integrity attached to it, particularly in emerging markets. We're 20 to 30 years behind the US in this, but the opportunity is enormous.
"There are loads of ways of setting up international operations, it doesn't need to be a full office. The initial jump is the hardest part."
More international work is likely to form a large part of the growth of Integrity Print, said chief executive Mark Cornford.
He added: "Export accounts for 5 per cent of our main business's revenue, but A1 Trade Print Services, the business we’ve recently acquired in Birmingham, has 25 per cent of its sales in export markets – that's something we’ll be looking to leverage."
John Dalton, managing director of Bristol tensile structures business Base Structures, said: "We've done a lot of work for the 2012 Olympics and have always done a lot in education, so we need new areas to work in – we’re taking a serious look at the BRIC economies."
In a broader sense, the round table – reported in full in the February issue of Insider, out now – agreed that the support is out there for businesses with a proven track record.
Arthur Hindmarch of Commercial Group said: "Good businesses understand the value of building a balance sheet and of keeping cash in the business, and banks will generally back businesses that have performed well on a previous loan. If your story has credibility there shouldn’t be a problem.
"What’s frustrated me is that there should have been a shake out of non-performing businesses - I can't believe how lax HMRC has been. Instead there are people competing in markets they have no right to be in, going in with unsustainable prices."
