Dartington Crystal - the UK's only factory-scale crystal glass manufacturer - has completed a reorganisation which put it on a secure footing in the British market when it decided to look abroad for export opportunities to help build on domestic successes. Neil Hughes, MD of Dartington said: "Although we have had an export presence for many years, like a lot of UK manufacturing, we went through a difficult time and our focus in recent years has been on the home market." "We have now reached a point where it seemed right to start looking at exports markets again and exploring the emerging markets, particularly China, for the first time. We had a tentative presence at some trade shows in China with limited success but really wanted to start making solid progress in that market." "We contacted UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) and sat down and talked with our adviser about our frustrations and difficulties in getting into the Chinese market and she put us in touch with UKTI's OMIS (Overseas Market Introduction Services) which got us an introduction to potential clients at an important trade fair in Shanghai last October. We received some good advice on how to approach customers and do business in China and this has proved successful and we now have new export clients for all three of our brands with very significant opening orders which should lead to long term growth in these markets." As a result of this initial success in China, Dartington has now made use of UKTI's OMIS again to organise meetings with more potential clients in S Korea and appointed a local distributor there. As a result, the company, has taken on more staff in manufacturing, sales and administration to cater for the demand of its growing export market. In addition to help and advice from UKTI, Dartington also received financial help from the ERDF.
