An innovative West Midland creative product design consultancy is bucking the business trend by winning substantial orders in China – with help from UK Trade & Investment.

JMDA, of Hill Furze, near Pershore, designs a wide range of products from concept right through to production, with particular expertise in child safety equipment.

Following support from UK Trade & Investment, JMDA has formed a partnership with Hachi, a specialist product engineering development and supply company based in Shenzhen.

Cherril Barker, JMDA’s marketing and finance director, said: “Hachi is very highly respected by blue chip companies across the world. It had been searching internationally for a specialist design firm for a long time, and we were the only one that met its requirements.

“Together, we are offering a complete service to a global client base. We anticipate that the business could be worth up to $235,000 over the next year.”

JMDA formed the partnership with Hachi after making several market visits to China over the past two years with financial support from UK Trade & Investment. As a result of the visits, JMDA won deals worth about £115,000 to design child car seats and strollers for eight Chinese companies, and managing director Derrick Barker is also negotiating additional contracts worth up to $600,000 in Shanghai.

Cherril added: “Before we joined UK Trade & Investment’s Passport scheme for new exporters in 2006, our export orders were very small. Now, they account for about 70 per cent of our annual turnover. We are also exporting to the USA, north and eastern Europe and Brazil.

“We recently exhibited at the Kind & Jugend exhibition for baby and children’s products in Cologne, thanks to financial support from UK Trade & Investment’s Tradeshow Access Programme.

“We launched two new prototype child car safety seats that were the talk of the show, and are currently in discussions with three major car seat manufacturers from various parts of Europe.

“None of this would have been possible without UK Trade & Investment.”

Established in 1991, JMDA has seven employees.

The company was highly commended in UK Trade & Investment’s West Midlands international trade awards earlier this year (Small Passport Exporter of the Year) and a finalist in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce awards (Small Business of the Year).

International trade adviser NickCorley, based at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: “JMDA is by nature a highly innovative business and the team’s success has been significantly enhanced by their ability to rapidly establish themselves overseas.”

For more information about how UK Trade & Investment can help businesses expand into new markets abroad,contact the international trade team at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce on 0845 641 1512.