A historic Birmingham manufacturer has secured a new international contract win worth £4 million.
Brandauer will make stainless steel components for razors blades which it will supply to a manufacturer in Egypt.
The deal is for the next eight years and is worth an estimated £500,000 annually to the Newtown-based company whose roots trace back to 1862 when it started manufacturing pen nibs.
Brandauer now designs, prototypes and produces a broad range of metal components, supplying clients in sectors such as domestic appliances, telecoms, medical and automotive and employs around 70 staff.
Chief executive Rowan Crozier said: "About five years ago, we pivoted into producing components that go into disposable razors.
"We made a ‘frame' into which the razor blades were welded and started supplying to a customer in Israel.
"That was successful so we've continued to market it with support from the Department for Business and Trade to spread the word which has led to this next contract landing in Egypt to make a similar product.
"Our components will be shipped to Egypt and then the manufacturer will sell the finished razor globally."
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Mr Crozier explained that the company's international expansion had been boosted after using government funding to invest in its online presence and social media strategy.
It was used to market Brandauer's capabilities in working with stainless steel and also the razor industry.
The business not only makes the components but also designs the tooling needed to manufacture the frames and has created a dedicated factory line which can produce up to 500 units per minute.
"We got a referral and the company in Egypt wrote to me via our website and the rest is history," Mr Crozier added.
"They don't have companies in Egypt which can do this sort of thing, the reason being that materials like stainless steel are not an easy material to cut and form, let alone one that is thinner than a business card.
"There's a high level of technology and innovation which means it's challenging for other countries to achieve this and that's what the º£½ÇÊÓƵ is good at.
"We find this time and again and we now supply to 26 different countries including China, India, Brazil and Mexico."
Mr Crozier spoke to BusinessLive shortly after the recent trade deal between the º£½ÇÊÓƵ and US was announced.
Among the proposed terms are a ten per cent levy on cars entering the US, down from the 27 per cent initially outlined in May, while tariffs on steel and aluminium have been scrapped - a vital boon to West Midlands manufacturers.
Mr Crozier said the American market accounted for around five per cent of Brandauer's £10 million annual turnover.
He concluded: "I'm concerned by the uncertainty it's causing because a lot of people are behaving in a way that means they will just hold off and wait and see.
"That's probably the most damaging thing but, actually, we're not in a bad place at the moment. We have preferential tariffs over a lot of the other countries the US usually imports from.
"We have - I wouldn't call it a trade agreement - but the start of a deal on the table which is a positive move forward.
"At the moment, we have more people looking at our website from the US than from any other country in the world and I have enquiries from existing customers in the States for new programmes and product developments.
"I am not going to get over confident because there's that uncertainty out there but I think we're going to be OK."
