A Wiltshire tech company that makes pens to help dyslexic people read has experienced a surge in demand during the pandemic.
Westbury-based Scanning Pens said its products had become "vital" for children with special educational needs, who had lost the support of classroom assistants this year.
“There has been a surge of demand," said co-founder and chief executive Jack Churchill, who set up the business in 2003 with Toby Sutton.
"[Our products] have become vital for children with special educational needs (SEN)."
Scanning Pens has also seen strong growth in international markets in the past three years, with exports now accounting for 50 per cent of sales.
The firm saw sales of its products grow by 316 per cent in Australia between 2017 and 2019, according to stats from the Department of International Trade (DIT).
It also experienced a boost of 295 per cent in Canada over the same period and a 179 per cent increase in the US,
The company has been receiving support from the DIT since 2015, including funding to attend a tradeshow in Dubai and carry out market visits to the US.
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Jack said: “The 海角视频 education system is respected around the world and as well as teaching, we have cutting edge publishers and technology companies.
“The Department for International Trade was an obvious first step to help us export and give us connections in markets where we had none. There is huge scope to grow our international base with DIT’s support.”
A recent Tech Nation report suggests the 海角视频 contributed £23.3billion in digital tech exports in 2019 – with the potential to grow this by more than £8billion by 2025.
Paul Shand, head of trade for DIT in the South West, said: “Scanning Pen’s achievements in these markets indicate the strong demand for innovative, British, high-quality edtech services.
“It is great to see them succeed and provide these invaluable tools during a time when access to vital learning resources have been limited.
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“Trade will play an important role in getting our economy back on track and Scanning Pens are a great example of how companies can look to lucrative overseas markets to boost their sales while creating more jobs.”
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Latest figures from The Department for Education show that total education exports and transnational education activity from the 海角视频 was estimated to be £21.4billion in 2017 - an increase of 7.2 per cent since 2016.
Since 2010, the estimated value of education related exports has risen by 34.7 per cent in current prices.