Powrmatic
Powrmatic is a specialist in commercial and industrial heating
and ventilation, chimneys and flues. Established in the 1960s
it has two operations in the South West which together
employ 250 people.
The company’s export market remains a significant part of their business, with the firm exporting to China, Japan and Dubai as well as within Europe. However countries such as Russia posed a problem because of the language barrier and communications with the Czech Republic were proving tricky.
With the help of the RLN SW Powrmatic has taken a proactive approach to developing export sales using language and cultural understanding as the way to improve international communications.
RLN SW suggested several practical solutions. The firm carried out an internal language audit and discovered staff with language skills that it wasn’t aware of. A person from the Czech Republic was appointed with immediate and positive results on business there. Literature and brochures have been translated into Mandarin and Russian and they have plans to do the same with various European languages.
Other examples included help with ‘Meet and Greet’ language for their attendance at a major trade fair in Bulgaria at the beginning of 2007. Two employees had several Bulgarian lessons from a trainer sourced by the RLN SW. As Kieron Borgeat the Commercial Manager says, “This created an excellent impression and the Bulgarians were blown away at the lengths we had gone to. Being able to speak even a little Bulgarian and having had our literature translated impeccably certainly opened doors for us.”
When a Japanese delegation was expected in March 2007 the company again used the RLN to source a consultant to give them a cultural briefing and to attend the meeting as an interpreter. The meeting was a double success. The firm won more business and the British trainer was retained by the Japanese firm as its representative in the UK!
Visit the Powrmatic website at www.powrmatic.co.uk.
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