Firms must be bold, brave and unafraid of risk if they want to succeed internationally.
That was one of the key messages at BusinessCloud’s latest event in association with VirtualNonExecs.
VirtualNonExecs is the UK’s largest community of board advisors, giving corporate partners unparalleled access to the boardrooms of over 50,000 SMEs.
The Leeds office of Eversheds Sutherland hosted Wednesday’s business breakfast, entitled ‘How to scale internationally’.
The audience of 70 delegates heard from two panels of international experts and business leaders.
Alexander Celik is the CEO of Sowerby Bridge-based material science company Rosehill Polymers, which is set to hit £50m turnover this year.
Rosehill was established in 1998 and Celik joined in 2005, growing the firm’s export from 25 per cent to 80 per cent
Be bold
He told the audience “Don’t be afraid to take risks and be bold. Find products that are novel, interesting and desirable.
“Having an understanding of the cultural elements of each individual market is important.”
Experienced non-exec director Darren Jones said: “Most of the organisations I’ve worked with have exported. Over 90 countries in different industries and they’ve done it in different ways.
“Some have had to set up in different parts of the world. I’ve been a director in seven different countries. Export is in my blood and should be in everyone’s blood because that’s what will make Great Britain great.”
Alissia Deane is an export finance manager at UK Export Finance (UKEF), covering the North and West Yorkshire.
She said: “I help businesses to navigate the challenges of accessing finance when they’re trading overseas.
“Be bold, be brave and don’t be afraid to ask questions and access the support. The help is definitely there.”
Griff Jones is an international M&A lawyer at Eversheds Sutherland and said preparation was key.
“Don’t assume that the market norms of the UK will apply overseas and ensure the advisers on both the buy-side and sell-side are aligned quite early on as to how the transaction will look,” he said.
Global reach
Peter McCormack is a partner at Eversheds Sutherland and the head of the firm’s international commercial product group.
He said: “We’ve got around 3,000 people in 70 offices in 30 jurisdictions around the world. Advising clients on multi-jurisdictional contracts, legal issues and needs is really what we do and stands us apart from the competition.”
Dominique Dempsey and Gary Cain, of VirtualNonExecs, with Chris Maguire, BusinessCloud.
He offered this advice to companies looking at going overseas. “Understand that the risk of trading internationally is not the same as trading in the UK,” he said.
“Look at ways that you can mitigate that risk, either in your contract and how you manage that contract or in how you do due diligence in relation to the particular supplier.”
Matt Tyler is the CEO of Leeds-based Herbi4 Ltd, which is an animal feed additive that reduces methane emissions in cattle by 65 per cent.
He said technology – especially AI – was making it easier to trade internationally.
The serial entrepreneur added: “You’ve got to persevere, be dogged and keep on plugging away.”
The other speakers were: Louise Lightfoot, employment partner at Eversheds Sutherland; and Richard Johnson, tax partner at Eversheds Sutherland.