China China

As the UK china and ceramics industry has declined, the choice for many supply companies has been a stark one: look for new markets or die.

Hygan Products Limited in the Potteries is a typical example. The company supplies sponge products and other consumables to the ceramics industry. 10-years ago, 80% of its turnover came from supplying local companies. Today that figure is 10-15% and declining all the time.

Joint Managing Directors, Jon Hewitt and Simon Cooper have been proactive in seeking out new export markets for their company’s products and Hygan now supplies more the 60 countries worldwide. However, its sights were set on China, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing centres of ceramics manufacturing. Output of ceramic products from a single Chinese city can exceed the total produced by a small European country, therefore, China was a key market to break into in order to secure Hygan’s future growth.

Jon explains:

“We used the Export Marketing Research Scheme to help us to fund an overseas research visit to China and the results surprised us. There tends to be a perception of South East Asian manufacturing as being labour intensive and fairly low tech. In many of the factories we visited, however, there was a lot of modern machinery. There is a burgeoning middle and upper class in China and this, along with export, is driving demand for high quality ceramics.

The Export Marketing Research Scheme is operated on behalf of UK Trade & Investment by British Chambers of Commerce. It provides advice, support and funding for eligible companies wishing to research potential export markets.

Jon adds:

“During our visit we discovered that many manufacturers are investing in state-of-the-art machinery from Germany and Italy and some of the factories are more modern than anything over here in the UK. Quality of manufacture is being hampered, however, by the use of inferior quality sponges to smooth the clay and remove excess glaze. Often manufacturers use low density mattress foam which tends to disintegrate and leave small sponge particles on the ware, causing pinholes in the glaze once the product has been fired. There is a very clear opportunity for us to help to raise quality standards by introducing our products to the marketplace and the research trip emphasised to us that we need to accelerate our export activity in order to capitalise on this.”

On his return to the UK, Jon wasted no time in sending sample products to companies whose production processes would benefit from using superior quality sponges. Hygan appointed a Chinese distributor and, between them, they are working to educate manufacturers that the higher cost of good quality sponges is offset by a reduction in wastage and an overall improvement in product quality. Product literature has been translated into Chinese and, last year, the company exhibited at one of the primary ceramics industry exhibitions in Guangdong province in Southern China. They are also exhibiting at the same exhibition in May 2007.

Since 2004, Hygan’s export sales in China have doubled year-on-year and, already this year, export sales have exceeded the 2006 figure. Jon believes the Export Marketing Research Scheme has been a vital factor in the company’s success in China:

“Our markets are getting further and further away and I am a firm believer that you need to visit a marketplace in order to research it thoroughly. For a small company like ours it would be difficult to do this without the support of the Export Marketing Research Scheme. The Scheme enabled me to do a thorough and professional job and this is starting to pay dividends. As a result of our success in China, we have been able to recruit staff in a part of the country that has been hard hit by job losses with the decline of the ceramics industry. Already I am planning to use the Export Marketing Research Scheme again to assist with my research trip to Northern China, which is very different to the areas we previously visited. We are also working closely with UK Trade & Investment’s International Trade Advisors locally and have applied for grant aid to assist us with the exhibition this year.”