Partner Article

Top honour for exporter

A COUNTY Durham firm specialising in heavy steel castings has welcomed one of the country’s top international trade bosses to show it is creating new links with customers around the globe with the help of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

Robin Barnett, Managing Director of UK Trade & Investment Business Group, was invited to tour Bonds Foundry Co Ltd, of Tow Law, which dates back to 1868, during a visit to the region yesterday (Tuesday 5 October).

The company is one of very few steel foundries in the UK with capability to produce steel castings up to 12 tonnes. It specialises in castings for stone crushing equipment, valve and pump casings and parts for ships in a wide range of materials for the international market. Turnover approaches £8 million and it has 95 employees.

It is a subsidiary of Bonds Ltd, the northern foundry group which was recently 12th in The Sunday Times International Track 100, having recorded 118 per cent annual export growth over the past three years.

Bonds Foundry initially signed up to UKTI’s Passport to Export initiative and later benefited from the support of the Gateway to Global Growth (G3) programme. It also commissioned Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) reports for an in-depth look at Poland and the Gulf region.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .