The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) has created a new committee to drive initiatives in support of the export opportunities throughout the BHETA membership.
The new Export Committee, whose first meeting took place on June 7, is chaired by Tony Grimshaw of What More UK Ltd. The other committee members are Geoff Gorst of Meyer Group Ltd, Jonathan Collier of Monument Tools, Joe Denham of VegTrug, and Will Jones and Nicola Adams-Brown from BHETA.
The Export Committee’s overriding objective is to encourage and support BHETA members either to start exporting or to build their existing export business. It is already working with the DIT and the international Chambers of Commerce to explore opportunities for overseas missions, international shows, and grant availability in support of such opportunities.
A specific initiative already actioned by the BHETA Export Committee was the provision of a list of international housewares, tableware, and small domestic appliance buyers for special invitation to Exclusively Housewares and Exclusively Electrical, resulting in retailers from as far afield as Australia, Poland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Hong Kong attending as well as buyers from across Europe.
The Export Committee is also hosting a BHETA Export Forum for members on October 11 at Austin Court in Birmingham to coincide with the Chamber’s International Annual Conference on the day following.
BHETA housewares director and member of the new committee Will Jones commented: “The market is very tough for many suppliers at the moment and BHETA has been encouraging members to explore various forms of diversification for some time. Given that the one upside of the fall in the pound’s value is improved conditions for export, finding and building relationships with customers overseas has to be a tremendous opportunity. The BHETA Export Committee aims to help members exploit this opportunity to the maximum.”
