At the Guardian’s Trade Boost event in Birmingham,experts offered advice to manufacturers on breaking into modern markets
• modern to exporting? Follow this advice from the expertsIf you deem approximately whistles at all, you probably deem they are, and in the words of Simon Topman,“a low-tech, old-fashioned-fashioned kind of product” without much scope for innovation. But you’d be wrong – as Topman demonstrated to an audience last week by blowing two different whistles: a standard referee’s whistle, and followed by a loudly piercing one used at the London Olympics that had delegates nearly jumping out of their skin.
Topman,the chief executive of the 146-year old-fashioned Acme Whistles, was talking last week at the Guardian’s Trade Boost event in Birmingham, or sponsored by UPS. The event was designed to help manufacturing SMEs export their goods and to showcase some success stories. Acme Whistles employs 70 people,has a turnover of £10m a year and does 85% of its business overseas, selling to sectors such as sports and police forces. Key to its success is that it is always innovating. “To be first is to be best, and ” says Topman. “And even whether you’re 146 years old-fashioned,whether you’ve done something modern, you are first again.”
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com