Slingco sets sights on Australia and Asia Pacific

Rawtenstall-based engineer Slingco is looking to grow its international customer base by targeting the Australian and Asia Pacific markets.

The family firm has developed high-quality cable grip and wire rope products for safety-critical applications within sectors including oil & gas, civil engineering, aerospace, transport, utilities, marine/offshore and defence.

As well as its Lancashire headquarters, Slingco also operates a base in the USA and a manufacturing facility in India. It currently serves customers in more than 60 countries.

Now, with finance and support from the Department for International Trade, Slingco is hoping to further increase its presence in the southern hemisphere, tapping into the Internationalisation Fund.

Nick Dykins, Slingco managing director, said: "The fund support can help answer questions such as; do buyers go through distributors or do they go direct to manufacturers, what are buying motivators or barriers to entry, who are the key players?

“The DIT has always been very proactive and delivers what we need when we need it. It has access to such a breadth of resources that if the individual advisor does not have the information we need, the team will certainly find someone who does."

Tiffany Solender, an international trade adviser at the department, said: "The Internationalisation Fund grant provides match-funding to enable exporters like Slingco to explore new markets, assess the demand for its products and determine the most viable routes to those new markets.

“As an SME, Slingco has access to many export services provided by DIT. These include the UK Export Academy, designed to accommodate different levels of exporting experience, through to market intelligence and overseas introductions via the British Embassies."

The fund, which runs until March 2023, enables Lancashire SMEs to access match-funded grants of between £1,000 and £9,000.