Face to face: export market

Nick Heron
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CW talks to two people responsible for boosting their company’s business in the middle east

Nick Heron
Nolte Küchen, export director

Colin Shaw
Balmoral, exports sales director

How important is business in the Middle East to your company?

NH: The Middle East, which for Nolte, now includes all the GCC countries, is extremely important. When I consider where Nolte was five years ago, in terms of both coverage and turnover, to where we are today, I can only be excited about our success. The Middle East also gives us brand awareness in the Asian markets.

CS: The Middle East market is very important to Balmoral’s future plans. When other areas of the world are affected by a downturn, the Middle East, in general terms, remains relatively unaffected. Over the past 10 years Balmoral has become a respected provider of water storage tanks in the region.

What are the current challenges you are facing in the market?

NH: Business. We have the best collection of partners in all our markets. All contribute to creating and servicing the business in their specific markets. We simply need now for the markets to recover where Nolte is now in prime position to be awarded many contracts to supply projects with our products.

CS: Our main challenge is competing with low-end Far Eastern imports. These products cannot compete with ours in terms of quality, as they are not manufactured to recognised international standards. In the current financially-driven market, clients should recognise the long-term value of installing top quality products.

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NH: In 2008 we launched a revolutionary new kitchen design concept ‘Matrix 150’, which is based on a very simple and easy to understand logic: all widths, heights and even depths are multiples of 150 mm. The result is a variety of attractive, functional kitchens with harmonious proportions in all dimensions.

CS: Balmoral has invested heavily in a new electronic estimating system for its GRP sectional water tanks. This means that quotes are on clients’ desks in less than 24 hours. This is a much welcomed development in a market, where the design and capacity of a tank can change many times during the project lifecycle.

Has the downturn resulted in any positive outcomes?

NH: Nolte is performing very well in our home territory of Germany, where today we still have the second largest [market] share. However, the downturn in global markets has put a new emphasis on our brand and today, while many other manufacturers at best keep their hands in their pockets (and who can blame them), we continue to invest in product innovation and market support.

CS: Service has always been the top priority at Balmoral. A good example of this is the recent collaboration between our client and our technical team whereby we made three trips to Dubai to assist in the final design and tank layout in a major project. One of the key advantages of dealing with Balmoral is that clients receive highly personalised service direct from the manufacturer.

What are your goals for 2010?

NH: Our company as a whole would like to increase its market share in all our invested markets. This would give the company a real boost.

CS: Our main goal for 2010 is to establish local representation in the Gulf, to carry out day-to-day business on our behalf. These representatives will not simply be agents, but companies with technical knowledge and the ability to install our products. We are looking to increase our market share as a result of these appointments.