Good vibrations!

Drum case company, Protection Racket develops its business in the US, Germany, Japan and other markets with help from UKTI.

Protection Racket are brand leaders in the design and manufacture of drum and instrument cases, as used by famous musicians worldwide.

The company was set up in Wadebridge in 1994 by Dean Bowdery and Nick Nethercot and, for the first five years of operation, all their sales were within the UK.

In 1999, Tommy Armstrong joined the company as Export Sales Director and, with the help of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), he set about expanding the business into new overseas markets.

Tommy says: “The first market we targeted was the United States. With funding support from UKTI, we undertook a market research trip to New York and Los Angeles and visited some key US trade shows.”

“At the time I knew very little about the U.S market and our advisor at UKTI was invaluable in helping us plan our market entry. It was easy to see that there was a lot of competition in the marketplace and he helped us to get to grips with the complexities of the buying process and to position our own products in a way that gave us an edge.”

“Most business in our sector is done through distributors. UKTI helped us through the whole research and selection process, resulting in us appointing a distributor in Los Angeles. The help we had from UKTI was crucial in helping us to make the right decisions at every stage, and the foundations that they helped us to put in place for our business development in the United States still form the basis on which we are expanding today. Since the first year, our trade in the United States has grown tenfold. “

Following the early foray into the States, Protection Racket set its sights on the Japanese and German markets and developed both in parallel. Tommy says: “As well as extremely useful assistance with practical issues relating to export, UKTI was able to help us with understanding cultural issues, which were vital to our unlocking these new markets. Each market is unique and UKTI has been invaluable in helping us get to the bottom of what makes each individual market tick. In addition, we benefited from financial support towards getting business cards and marketing leaflets translated for the German and Japanese markets. This financial support was critical to us in being able to invest in investigating these new opportunities.’

“The fact that the support from our UKTI trade advisor is ongoing has made a huge difference to us. We have tended to meet with him every two or three weeks and he has really got to understand our business and is a valuable mentor to us. We appreciate having UKTI’s network of advisors as a knowledgeable sounding board. For example, we recently had to weigh up the pros and cons of appointing a particular distributor, who represented both opportunities and risks. Through being able to discuss this situation in depth with our UKTI advisor, we were able to come to the right decision.”

Following successful penetration of the Japanese and German markets in quick succession, Protection Racket then made inroads into Australia, New Zealand, Benelux, France, Italy and Scandinavia.

The business now operates in a total of 18 international markets.

Tommy continues: “One key way in which we have benefitted from UKTI is that we have been able to take part in trade missions to new markets, sometimes with others outside of our sector from elsewhere in the UK. UKTI has been the key that has unlocked these opportunities for us.”

“As well as general practical information, such as the useful guidance from a recent conference on changes in relation to shipping security, the networking opportunities that UKTI conferences present are often a springboard for knowledge about new markets. For example, at the shipping conference I met an expert on Brazil, and this is now a market we are now actively pursuing as it is a growth market for our sector.”

Tommy continues: “I have found the advice and guidance from UKTI to be extremely realistic and practical. They really have their finger in the pulse and understand the realities of the various markets so the advice is always hands-on, pragmatic and has developed as business has developed generally. We have also greatly appreciated assistance with funding. For example, UKTI was able to part fund translation of our website and other marketing materials.”

“UKTI has helped us at every stage of our international expansion. Ten years ago we were a business operating solely in the UK, now export accounts for 75% of our turnover. We want to treble our current turnover over the next three years and have no doubt that UKTI will continue to be a vital partner, helping us achieve success in overseas markets from our base in Wadebridge. Bring it on!”

Contacts

If you are based in the South West of England and are interested in developing your business overseas please contact:

UKTI South West International Trade Team

Tel: +(0)845 60 60 969

Email: enquiries@uktisouthwest.org