Case Study Gateway to Global Growth

How can UKT&I’s Gateway to Global Growth and Export Marketing Research Scheme help with exporting to a new market – Meech International Case Study 

About Meech

Founded in 1907 Meech International is a specialist developer and manufacturer of electrostatic, contamination control and energy efficiency systems.
Meech International is one of the world’s leading suppliers and manufacturers of industrial solutions in 5 principal areas: Static Control, Web Cleaning, Energy Saving, Compressed Air Equipment, JetStream Air Knife Systems and IonRinse™ Ionised Air Rinsing and Air Cleaning Systems.
Supporting the Head office, located in Oxfordshire, Meech has sales and marketing offices in USA, Belgium, China, India and Hungary. Currently employing over 80 people globally these offices serve their local regions both directly and through a network of distributors.

UKT&I’s Gateway to Global Growth and Export Marketing Research Scheme 

Gateway to Global Growth is a UK Trade & Investment programme, which helps experienced exporters expand into new markets and grow their business overseas. It offers a wide range of guidance and tailored support to companies over a 12 month period.
UK companies applying for the Gateway to Global Growth can receive the following help and support from UKT&I: a strategic review with an International Trade Adviser to assess your trade development needs; a next steps plan to help you reduce risks and increase opportunities of exporting to new markets; guidance and mentoring with a UKTI trade adviser or other export professionals; support on a range of specialist subjects e.g. protecting your intellectual property and managing foreign exchange; access to UKTI’s international network in embassies and high commissions around the world; business master classes and export training; advice on market research; advice on language and cultural issues; introduction to international trade business networks, etc. 

As export is very important to Meech, with currently 85% of all products exported to over 60 countries throughout the world, in 2012 Meech joined the Gateway to Global Growth scheme to learn about new markets in South America, especially Chile, Peru and Colombia. The company’s ability to support customers is based upon an extensive distribution network of local, fully trained experts who provide technical help and application knowledge, hence one of the main objectives of the Gateway programme was to identify the valuable contacts on the ground. Meech apart from the consultation with the UKT&I International Trade Adviser also utilised another programme offered by UKT&I called Export Marketing Research Scheme (EMRS) which provided a grant for market research in Chile, Peru and Colombia. 

As a result of this market research and an additional distributor/ agent recruitment scheme Meech now has distributors and agents beginning to grow in these countries. Meech are continually looking to expand markets and are constantly searching for new distributors around the world, therefore it was important to identify strong potential new distributors on the ground of a new market, which the Gateway to Global Growth helped with.  

For more information on Meech International visit: www.meech.com