Member Article

International eye on former sales rep's educational toy business

A former sales rep and her product designer partner, from Northumberland, say they have attracted enquiries from Japan, Germany and the US for their educational aids and toys business.

Christine Lawson and her partner Roger, set up EDUK8 Worldwide Ltd nearly ten years ago, have ysed the UKTI Passport to Export and Gateway to Global Growth programmes to secure overseas customers.

The business specialises in resources for pupils and teachers, across English language, science, early years, outdoor play and special needs from the age of three years through to secondary school level. Last year the pair expanded into the retail toy market.

Christine explained: “We felt that parents should have access to the same quality educational toys which are used in schools and the response we’ve had has been wonderful.

“We’ve had more than 160 serious enquiries from all over the world including Japan, Korea, Germany, France and the USA and this is expected to result in 50 or more longer-term customers including Amazon, Tesco, Argos, M&S and Sainsbury’s.”

Jeff Sanders, one of UK Trade & Investment’s International Trade Advisers, who has worked closely with the company said: “We’ve been working with Eduk8 Worldwide Ltd for several years and Christine and Roger have made good use of a wide range of UKTI’s support services.

“It is a clear example of how success in exporting can be achieved by getting the right product into the right market, combined with an awful lot of hard work and perseverance by Christine and her team.

“I hope their success will inspire other small businesses to find out how exporting can help their business grow.

“UKTI is, of course, on hand to help every step of the way and next week we will be teaming up with partners to host a series of events across the region as part of Export Week (7-11 April) to highlight the opportunities and support that is available.”

To find out more about Export Week log onto the website here.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .