老九品茶

Prove it in UK first

Tom Dunlop is the founder of LegalTech Summize, which has just completed a 拢40m funding and reinvestment round to accelerate global expansion. The Manchester-headquartered scaleup also has offices in Boston and San Diego.听 Dunlop said: 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e thinking about going abroad to a new market prove it out from the UK first. Make it repeatable before you put feet on the ground. If you put feet on the ground, I would bring your own staff in the business first for a while. Don鈥檛 just hire in that country.鈥�

Tinder for business

Ged Tyrrell is the group CEO of Leigh-headquartered Tyrell Building Technologies Group, which has offices in London and Dubai. TBT Group builds smart building solutions utilising Internet of Things technology. Tyrrell said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much innovation in the North West and getting world-beating technology that we鈥檙e developing out there is really important. The technology businesses are creating all that technology. My key takeaway from today is match-making target markets, locations, cultures with our products and services is crucial to avoid false starts. Loads of people around the table have got AI-enabled tools to make that happen. Tinder for business.鈥�

Cracking US isn鈥檛 easy

Tim Przybysz is the chief executive of Fred Done-backed Sports Tours International. He said: 鈥淭he US is clearly a good opportunity. The market is huge and the margins are better but if you think it鈥檚 an easy win, it鈥檚 not.听 You鈥檝e got to be great in your home market before you go to another market. It can鈥檛 be a silver bullet to profit. M&A is great, it fast tracks you, but you inherit a lot of new people that are not always matched to your culture.鈥�

听Help is available

听

Susana Cordoba is the head of international trade services at GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub and said help was available for companies wanting to grow internationally. 鈥淲e recently launched an international scaleup programme exclusively for GM businesses,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he sector doesn鈥檛 matter.鈥�

Maximise brand Britain

Zoe Brimelow is brand director of Manchester-headquartered packaging manufacturer and consultancy Duo. Brimelow said: 鈥淚 found it really inspiring to hear just how many Manchester businesses are trading internationally and doing things very differently but very well.

Be bold and brave to win international business

鈥淲e鈥檝e accessed loads of help through the GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub and it鈥檚 helped give us the confidence to expand. The other thing I鈥檇 say is really play on the Britishness of your brand. It worked massively for us.鈥�

Find right global partner

James Wild is an M&A partner at RSM UK and said: 鈥�It鈥檚 great to see so many great Manchester businesses that are looking internationally. If you are expanding internationally you do need to partner with an accountancy firm that has a global outlook with a serviced offering on a global basis.鈥�

Speak the right language

Marc Balduin is head of operations at Sale-based Pets Purest, which is the UK鈥檚 fastest-growing pet start-up brand. 听He said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a great network in Manchester, including the GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub and ASCEND programme.

鈥淎 lot of businesses want to collaborate, especially if you鈥檙e not in the same sector. Don鈥檛 assume that, just because a physical product works in the UK, it will automatically work in a different country. Do our research especially when it comes to translations

Grow our economy

Simon Boyd is a co-founder of Rove, an AI-powered platform to help consumer brands expand into international markets. 听It was developed by three tech entrepreneurs. Boyd said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see so many British businesses taking international expansion seriously. I think more British businesses could help us grow the economy by being more focussed on international growth.鈥�

Use local help

Tom Armenante is eCommerce director and co-founder at cable tie manufacturer. 听He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been massively helpful to have someone on the ground in the US. That knowledge in the market and trust signal that provides to customers is really valuable. In the US, each state has different nuances and buying patterns and customers can be quite different.鈥�

Listen to businesses

Janine Smith is a director of the Greater Manchester 老九品茶 Growth Hub and said it was important to listen to businesses. She said: 鈥淲e should be trying to utilise the diversity and experience of the businesses in this room to try and help businesses that are trying to access markets for the first time. You鈥檝e got all the experience and knowledge from our advisors but there鈥檚 nothing like getting it from people who have recently done it and are still doing it.鈥�

Choose the right advice

听Arran Kirkup is the commercial director of Indiespring, which develops mobile applications. They have two major US clients. Kirkup said: 鈥淚鈥檓 really glad that we鈥檙e a software business. I wasn鈥檛 aware of all the support that is available. One of the things I鈥檝e noticed is you鈥檒l get lots of great advice but that advice is specific to the businesses who are giving it.鈥�

Routes to market

Nikki Foster Le-Grys is the chief commercial officer听on STEM on Track, which is a year-long STEM and engineering programme where students build and race a real racing kart, applying science, maths, and engineering through hands-on learning.

Wayve drives away with $1.5bn investment

Nikki Foster Le-Grys said: 鈥淢y key takeaway from today is thinking about routes to market. We always envisaged we鈥檇 be setting up our own offices and hiring our own people and delivering everything ourselves. Actually, we鈥檙e looking to sign a licensing deal for Asia, which will probably outgrow our business in three years.鈥�

Easy opportunities aren鈥檛 always best

Ricardo Seixas founded One Day six years ago in Manchester, entirely from scratch, and it already works with a number of global brands. The integrated agency opened an office in Poland and is part of GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub鈥檚 ASCEND programme. Seixas said: 鈥淔ollowing the language is sometimes the easiest but is not the biggest opportunity. Think about opportunities in place you would not consider, which was the case for us when we opened in Poland.鈥�

Export is the growth route

Daniel Shackleton is a director of Rochdale-based Salt Separation Services, which specialise in marine and industrial reverse osmosis desalination systems. Shakleton said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 an amazing diversity of businesses in Manchester who want to grow by export. For us as a business to achieve our growth aspirations, export is the only route forward.鈥�

Don鈥檛 go it alone

Fergal O鈥機onnor is the founder and CEO of Buymedia, an AI-powered advertising platform. The company started in Ireland 10 years and launched in the UK in October, with Manchester as UK HQ. O鈥機onnor said: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to go it alone. There are loads of stakeholders and partners in Manchester and the North West, who can help you on your international journey. Engage with those stakeholders before you go on that international journey.鈥�

Different playbooks to succeed

听Stockport-based Hamilton Pharma specialise is distributing pharma and medical devices. Founder Manish Mehta said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to learn from the amazing businesses around the table. There seems to be lots of different playbooks to expanding internationally, whether that鈥檚 M&A, feet on the ground or doing it from the UK.鈥�