The last 18 months have been a time of unprecedented challenges for businesses.
Many have had to adapt to new ways of working and look for new opportunities to excel and develop. One way businesses have been able to transform is through exporting goods overseas. Whether it's offering services, licenses, or products, exporting has given many firms the potential to develop many aspects of their business.
can assist with finding new markets, identifying new international opportunities, and support businesses big and small, navigate new trading regulations following the end of the EU Transition period.
Two manufacturers who have experienced the benefits of exporting are Newtown-based , which make product and pallet handling solutions around packaging and palletising systems, and Denbighshire-based , which design and manufacture luxury fifth wheel caravans and tourers.
So how have they been able to progress by exporting overseas?
Rosie Davies, group director at RM Group, and David Robinson, design manager at Fifth Wheel Co, share their own experiences and discuss the reasons exporting is the key to business resilience, recovery, and reconstruction during periods of market disruption.
How does exporting make companies more resilient?
Rosie said: 鈥淎s packaging specialists, our business essentially serves the consumer market, which is ever-evolving. Should the appetite in 海角视频 markets change, we leave ourselves vulnerable with a potential loss in revenue. Exporting limits our exposure in this regard. If 海角视频 sales dip, we have revenue streams from across the world.鈥
David said: 鈥淓xports ensure you have flexibility in getting products to market 鈥 it means that the business can still keep moving forward. Having good international links and raising our profile is important because it leads to not only new business but new supply chain opportunities, providing flexibility and contingency should there be any disruption.鈥
When has exporting allowed you to be more resilient?
David said: 鈥淓xport sales towards the end of 2020 were critical to us as a business. Despite the increased popularity of staycations in the 海角视频, we found that the domestic market for our luxury fifth wheel caravans and tourers was stagnating because of the combined 海角视频 lockdowns and our high product value. It was hard to get customers to commit to new purchases, especially when they couldn鈥檛 travel to view the products in person due to travel restrictions - virtual viewings can only go so far with a product range in excess of 拢75,000! However, this wasn鈥檛 the case with our dealer in Germany, where the leisure industry continued to boom and as a result, they provided us with consistent business.鈥
How has your business spread its risk by exporting internationally?
Rosie said: 鈥淎s a company, we design a lot of bespoke machinery and turnkey systems for our clients, but our core business is based on our standard product range, much of which is patented. It is the export of these standard product lines on which our business thrives, as there is far greater consistency in supplying from our standard product range and we have strong demand for it from overseas.鈥
David said: 鈥淏y exporting it means that if there is a disruption in one region then we can always change our strategy to focus on sales in others. This approach has certainly sustained us throughout the pandemic. It may be clich茅, but not having all your eggs in one basket, right through your supply chains, and your final markets, ensures you mitigate any risk by having a contingency plan at the ready should unforeseen circumstances arise.鈥
Do you think exporting will be important in Wales鈥 post-Covid recovery and reconstruction strategy?
Rosie said: 鈥淵es absolutely. All businesses have been impacted in some way, and we鈥檙e all looking to recover what was lost. Export and business development overseas can provide an additional revenue stream to support that recovery, both at a company, and a country level. It may seem daunting but trading on the international stage can reap huge rewards and I would encourage any export curious businesses to investigate further.鈥
Do you believe that disruption or crisis can breed opportunity?
Rosie said: 鈥淔or some businesses, yes. But all businesses should always be continually and progressively developing their products or services and systems, in order to be agile in that moment of extreme need. If you don鈥檛 it鈥檚 hard to take advantage of those opportunities that can often arise from crises. For us, exports have provided us with that agility and it鈥檚 why we invest so much time and money into developing an export strategy that can weather even the harshest of storms鈥
David said: 鈥淚nnovation and diversification often thrive during periods of market disruption. Something we have all witnessed over the last 18 months. As a company, as well as exploring new markets, the disruption of 2020-21 allowed us to spend more time on research and development than we would normally commit to, which means that we have some exciting new product lines in development.鈥
For more information contact Business Wales by clicking on or call 03000 603 000 for advice and support from specialist export advisors.
