A West Midlands babywear firm has turned to the internet as part of an international expansion drive.
Little Blue Dog, which produces a range of baby t-shirts and accessories for sale in specialist boutiques and on the internet, is setting its sights on becoming a global operation.
Already the company, based in Leamington, is rapidly expanding with exports to the USA, Sweden, Czech Republic and Australia through e-commerce.
The company has benefited from support and advice from the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce international trade team, which specialises in helping businesses to export British goods and find new markets.
Emma Williamson, one of the partners in Little Blue Dog which was set up two years ago, said that sales through the internet had given the business a fresh impetus and scope for attracting larger orders.
"We have laid a good deal of emphasis on our webbased sales and it shows that lots of families shop online these days.
"In fact, we see this trend increasing and it is certainly worthwhile investing time and effort into our web presence."
Emma designs the clothes with her business partner Melanie Harvey and another designer Karen White. They came up with the name from their first t-shirt design - featuring a dog called Tim - now the company logo.
Little Blue Dog is shifting part of its 2,500 t-shirt-a-year production from Turkey to Coventry company Mortex, and has recently begun stocking items in new Leamington shop Kick Maternity.
Emma added: "It is quite novel in the clothing industry that our baby-wear can be manufactured just ten minutes down the road from one of the stockists."
Chamber international trade adviser Malcolm Vaughan said: "This is an excellent example of a young company finding success both in the UK and internationally by adapting its strategy to suit market trends."
Little Blue Dog is set to benefit further after gaining national exposure by being featured recently on BBC2's Working Lunch programme.
