BRIEFING

viewpoint my world

ADRIAN SWINSCOE SPEAKER AND AUTHOR OF RARE BUSINESS

Back in May, there was an article in the Daily Telegraph that highlighted that language could be a potential barrier to international sales for ecommerce

businesses. But, since there are 23 offi cial languages in the EU alone, where should a company start? Asos (asos.com) is a great example of a UK business that is leading the way by taking an incremental approach. The company only added websites in the US, Germany and France last year and is planning on doing the same in Spain and Italy shortly. It seems to be working too. Asos recently reported a surge in sales, up 69 per cent in the last quarter, of which international sales were 57 per cent, up from 51 per cent. Customer data and market research will tell companies where to concentrate their efforts and what languages should come fi rst. That way, we’ll make sure that we get the most out of our multi-lingual efforts.

COMINGS AND GOINGS...

• South West IT security fi rm SecurEnvoy has won a Queen’s Award for Innovation for its export success in 42 countries

• Bournemouth-based air traffi c control consultancy Think Research is creating three jobs as a result of growing demand for its product in Europe, Turkey and the Middle East

• East Midlands Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2011 winner Bridgehead International has increased its export sales by 146 per cent over three years, with growth in Europe, North America and emerging markets

• Newcastle’s fi nancial software consultancy Scott Logic has secured a $1m contract with a Wall Street investment bank

• Xerox Corporation has acquired London fi rm NewField IT

Summit focuses on high- growth opportunities

A conference organised by The Economist will focus on opportunities in high-growth markets, and the challenges of hypercompetition from local companies. The High-Growth Markets Summit will take place in London on 29-30 September, with provisionally confi rmed speakers including Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil, Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, and Mehmet Simsek, minister of fi nance, Republic of Turkey.

10 | springboard | www.ukti.gov.uk

MoUs signed with Malaysia

Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable presided over the signings of fi ve agreements intended to deepen co-operation between UK companies and Malaysia. Five Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) were signed during Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s UK visit. British energy fi rm Petrofac signed a deal with the Malaysian national oil company, PETRONAS, to exchange information and skills on developing offshore fi elds. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia signed MoUs with the University of Reading to deepen ties in the fi elds of cybernetics, urban planning and student exchanges, and with Imperial College London to strengthen research and academic collaboration into low-carbon energy research. Dr Cable and Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, chairman of Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission, signed a MoU to co-operate as Malaysia embarks on a £10.5bn rail scheme in Kuala Lumpur. A contract was also signed between the University of Warwick and the National Defence University of Malaysia to provide a bespoke MSc course in Engineering Business Management on defence and security.

Aegis engages in Manchester call centre

Indian outsourcing fi rm Aegis has committed to a new Manchester call centre which will create 600 jobs by the end of 2011. The company provides outsourced back-offi ce functions such as accounting, fi nance, human resources and IT, and employs more than 50,000 people around the world. Aparup Sengupta, global CEO and managing director of Aegis, said: “We’re delighted to be launching our European presence with a new customer centre in Manchester. Our

strategy is to ensure that people calling our centres get an excellent experience, and we think that, generally, the best way to do that is to have a strong onshore presence, rather than having centres offshore.” Commenting on the move,

Lord Green, UK Minister of State for Trade & Investment, said: “This is a clear testimony of confi dence in the UK economy and another success story of a large Indian conglomerate using the UK as a springboard for global growth.”