Filtermist is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted for Exporter of the Year in The Manufacturer of the Year Awards 2014.
The awards, organised by The Manufacturer magazine, are ‘dedicated to recognising and celebrating industry achievement and highlighting the diversity and strength of UK manufacturing. The awards aim to spread best practice, inspire others and show the important role UK manufacturing plays in today’s economy.’
Filtermist was established in 1969 and now sells in to more than 60 countries worldwide through a network of carefully selected global distributors.
Managing Director James Stansfield, comments, “We have won, and been shortlisted for, a number of export awards over the years including The Queens Award for Export in the 1990s. Filtermist recognised early on that trading overseas was vital if the company was going to achieve the ambitious targets it had set itself and this awareness has proved pivotal in the company’s growth.”
90% of all products manufactured at Filtermist's Bridgnorth production facility are now destined for overseas markets and the company is actively targeting additional growth from a number of key territories. Directly employed Business Development Managers (BDM) tasked with growing Filtermist’s distributor network have recently been appointed to support sales in South East Asia and China, whilst one of its UK-based BDMs is currently learning to speak Japanese to help develop relationships and sales in Japan.
James continues, “Filtermist’s dedicated UK team spends a significant amount of time supporting our global distributors with exhibition attendance and customer visits. We ensure all of our distributors can easily access all of the marketing and sales materials needed to help them sell our products and this hands on way of working has reaped significant rewards for Filtermist.”
UKTI Shropshire has played a key role in supporting Filtermist to access new markets over recent years, particularly in Russia and South East Asia. Business Development Manager, Chris Harper, will be accompanying UKTI international trade advisor Richard Smith on a trade mission to Japan in November which includes a visit to the Japan International Machine Took Fair, JIMTOF, where Filtermist units will be on show.
Richard says, “Filtermist is one of our regional exporting success stories so it’s great to see the company recognised on a national scale for its efforts. Export trade offers huge potential - particularly to our manufacturing sector where goods made in the UK have an international reputation for quality.”
Filtermist will be battling it out for the Exporter of the Year title with six other finalists at The Manufacturer of the Year Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner, taking place at the ICC, Birmingham, on 27th November.
UKTI offers a wide range of services to UK businesses looking to trade internationally – please visit www.gov.uk for more details.