Conway Stewart & Co Ltd

Conway Stewart & Co Ltd, the long established manufacturer of luxury pens based in Plymouth, has introduced an innovative approach to developing new international markets for its premium, hand finished quality pens.

In an age where cheap mass-produced writing instruments are now readily available, the company specialises in top of the range pens, utilising high-quality materials, distinctive designs and the cachet of being hand-made in England.

Looking to export to all parts of Europe, the Middle East, China and Japan in addition to its core market of the United States, Conway Stewart aspired to be able to speak with international customers in their own language over the phone.
A referral from UKTI led Conway Stewart’s managing director, Glenn Jones to the Regional Language Network South West.

Glenn Jones explains: “We see good customer communications as essential to our exporting success. With RLN SW’s help we have been able to use the talents of Plymouth’s international student population and have equipped selected and carefully trained native language speakers, each with mobile phones to mediate communication between our office and clients.

“We now cover Arabic, Cantonese, French, Russian, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish. This means that our customers can immediately be in touch with someone speaking their language which we then follow up. It is really working well and has greatly contributed towards our immediate market expansion plans.”

Conway Stewart has also used specialised business translation services recommended by RLN SW for its website material and business cards. In addition, the company is hosting an export marketing project with final year degree students from Plymouth Business School who need to engage in “live” consultancy for their final year studies.

Amanda Pléven, RLN SW business adviser for Devon and Cornwall based at Plymouth Business School said: “We have been pleased to help Conway Stewart in its innovative approach to international communications in new markets.

“Glenn has also taken up learning Mandarin himself and we were able to refer him to a native-speaker qualified teacher conveniently located near his home in Cornwall.”

Visit the Conway Stewart website at www.conwaystewart.co.uk.

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