Export market drives success

WORLDWIDE demand for used process machinery across all sectors has helped County Durham-based Perry Process Equipment win a top award for its export success.

The company, which is the European arm of the US-based $30m Perry Machinery Group, was awarded the Durham and Wearside North East Business Award for Export in recognition of its ability to connect with international customers looking to buy or lease processing equipment, from single units through to complete production plants.

Perry Process Equipment is a £3m turnover company, founded in 1990, and supplying individual items such as reactors, mixers, centrifuges, dryers and heat exchangers, through to complete processing lines for clients in the chemical, pharmaceutical, plastics and rubber, food, sugar, fishmeal and paper industries.

Julie Morris, sales manager at Perry, said:  “The last few years have seen the market swing away from the UK and towards export and we have tailored the business accordingly. 

“While the UK market is relatively steady for us, the French and German markets are major trading areas, and we are developing a strong presence in the rest of Europe, including Spain and Italy.  Exports now form around 70% of our turnover and we expect that to grow as emerging markets such as India become stronger.

“Process machinery, by its very nature, is built to last and that’s partly what drives the used equipment market.  It’s environmentally friendly and a very cost effective way to appeal to companies keen to use recycled equipment.  We also see a lot of demand from customers looking to expand into new markets or extend operations, but without having to make a big capital investment in new plant.

“The internet has really opened up our business to a global market.  We have multi-lingual staff in place and we offer different language options on our website and in our brochures, which all support our overseas clients. 

“Because we have offices or agents across the world there is really nowhere that is out of bounds to us or our customers in terms of procurement. For instance we often act as the agent for US companies who might want equipment in countries such as Iraq.

“People travel thousands of miles to see equipment − a recent client came all the way from Australia - and for those who can’t travel we produce a video so they can carry out a virtual inspection.  We then clean, test and certify the kit for them, prior to shipping.

“Our client base is now global, and we’re absolutely delighted to have had our international efforts recognised with this award.”