A UK exporter has successfully completed a £12 million (GBP) contract to help modernise teaching and research laboratories in dozens of Brazil’s universities, following crucial support from the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD)  – the UK’s official export credit agency.

ECGD guaranteed a £10.35 million (GBP) bank loan from HSBC Bank plc which was used by Brazil’s Ministry of Education to pay Philip Harris International for the multi-million pound deal.  The contract was administered from the UK exporter’s Ashby de la Zouch offices in Leicestershire.

Centrifuges and fume cabinets for medical research, and germinators and incubators for biological experiments are among the equipment being used to help re-equip the hospitals and academic institutions within 82 universities across Brazil - from northern Amazon to the country’s border with Argentina in the south.

Mike O’Brien, Minister for Trade, said: “This deal demonstrates the important role played by ECGD in helping UK exporters win business overseas – supporting UK jobs and in this case also helping to modernise Brazil’s universities which are producing doctors and engineers of the future.”

As well as supporting 20 jobs at Philip Harris International, the contract has also provided business for its smaller sub-contractors based across the UK.

Richard Cochrane, International Sales Director at Philip Harris International, said: ”Philip Harris International won the contract on a competitive tender against fierce competition from other European countries, Japan and the USA. “

And he added: “ECGD has been helping us secure contracts right across the globe for the past 30 years. The Department’s support on this deal was crucial in helping us secure this important contract and we will continue to approach the Department for support on future business deals.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. ECGD, the Export Credits Guarantee Department, is the UK’s export credit agency. A separate Government Department reporting to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, it has more than 80 years’ experience of working closely with exporters, project sponsors, banks and buyers to help UK exporters of capital equipment and project-related goods and services. We do this by providing:

• Help in arranging finance packages for buyers of UK goods by guaranteeing bank loans;
• Insurance against non-payment to UK exporters; and,
• Overseas Investment Insurance - a facility that gives UK investors up to 15 years’ insurance against political risks.

2. More information on ECGD’s products, along with other press releases, is available on its website www.ecgd.gov.uk

3. For further details about this contract or Philip Harris International – which is a division of Findel Education Ltd – visit www.fipd.co.uk or contact Richard Cochrane, International Sales Director, Tel: 01530 418593.

PRESS ENQUIRIES:

Azara Bibi, ECGD Press Office, Tel: 020 7512 7421

(Out of Hours: 07790 887852)