James Walker: sealed success overseas
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the stories of some of Cumbria’s Exporters to inspire and showcase the benefits of expanding your business overseas to drive growth. In this series, we’ll look at some of the key considerations for any business looking to expand to trade internationally, and explain how the Department of International Trade (DIT) can support you and your business at every stage of the export process.
James Walker manufactures and supplies high performance sealing products, as well as offering on-site maintenance and installation services across a number of industries.
These industries are wide-ranging and the company works in partnership with customers in sectors such as oil and gas, power, pharmaceutical, defence and metallurgical.
With many of its products being supplied for critical applications, the timely movement of goods was a real concern to James Walker in the lead up to Brexit. The resource and advice that was available through the DIT at this time was invaluable. Regular meetings and discussions allowed the team to plan for any potential barriers and successfully implement procedural changes so as not to fall victim to unnecessary delays.
Similarly, the opportunities and support for market specific information have proven extremely useful to the team at James Walker. With products being supplied worldwide, market feedback allows the business to better plan and develop sales strategies. For example, having recently developed a sealing product for the wind industry, attending the webinars organised for the Offshore Wind markets in both the USA and UK offered insight into effective ways to launch and promote this product globally. In the UK for instance, hearing first-hand from wind farm operators about the impact the wind sector deal, which will see offshore wind become the backbone of the UK’s power system, has facilitated more purposeful discussions with overseas-based turbine manufacturers. This has been supported through the DITs virtual webinars schedule and has demonstrated how, as a UK manufacturer, James Walker could help contribute to UK government’s ambitions to increase local content to above 60% in the next ten years.
James Walker would recommend contacting the DIT to find out about the range of services and support available that may help businesses on their journey to exporting. For information and assistance on trading internationally, please get in touch with our Export Manager, Sarah Peak: sarah.peak@tradenw.org