One of Yorkshire’s most successful exporters to talk at Why Should

5 August 2014

One of Yorkshire’s most successful exporters to talk at Why Should I Export? event

ONE OF the region’s most successful exporters is among speakers at the latest Response Fund networking event in Shipley this month.

Chief executive of Radio Design, Eric Hawthorne, is key speaker at the free-of-charge, two-hour event at his company’s premises in Wharf Street, at 4.30pm on Thursday, August 14.

There are places for up to 30 novice exporters at the event which has the theme Why Should I Export?, where the other main speaker will be senior export adviser with international trade specialist, Chamber International, Mike Strawson.

In seven years Radio Designs has grown from a standing start to an international empire with 275 staff. In the year to March 2014, the company’s turnover grew from £14m to £22m and, the last quarter, Radio Design exported more than 70% of its products.

Mike Strawson, who has more than 50 years practical experience as an exporter, will discuss how he set four businesses, including his own one-man operation, on the road to export.

He says: “The answer to the question Why Should I Export? is because it leads to increased turnover, better profits and is an effective buffer against economic downturns. Any business with the right product or service should be exporting and the We Are International campaign offers a huge amount of practical help to enable novice exporters to be successful.”

There will also be a chance to network with some of the region’s most experienced exporters who will be on hand to provide advice and hands-on help to new-to-export businesses.

Chamber International, the international trade support body, is delivering themed networking events with export ambassadors providing practical support for novice exporters as part of a Local Response Fund Capacity Building Project, a Skills Support for the Workforce Contract managed by Leeds City College.

The Response Project benefits from £11.8m from the European Social Fund being made available through the Skills Funding Agency to finance training for working people and aims to help SMEs, with fewer than 250 staff, in the ten local authority areas within Leeds City Region invest in developing the skills of their workforce.

Chamber International has already run a series of networking events over the last 18 months – backed by the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership’s We are international Campaign – providing practical support for dozens of novice exporters and leading directly to overseas orders.

To book your place, click here.

Follow Chamber International on Twitter @ChamberInt.