An ambitious design-led firm in the Midlands has broken into the Asian market after travelling to Hong Kong to seal a deal.
Luxury bathroom stone-ware suppliers, Finwood Designs, attracted interest from worldwide buyers after attending the ISH Frankfurt exhibition in March.
And with support from the international trade team at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Bill and Hazel Lancashire were able to visit Hong Kong to turn their leads into a lucrative contract.
Now showrooms across the former-British colony will sell the custom-designed basins, baths and wash stands.
The husband and wife team formed the company, based in Beausale, Warwick, in 2005, after amassing years of experience in the industry.
Mr Lancashire said: "We are a youngish company, only two years old, and the UK is our main market.
"The first priority was to establish the company in the UK and we felt that once we had achieved a reasonable position in the UK market, we could spread our wings and develop an international dimension to the business.
"At the exhibition in Germany, we took orders from dealers in Germany, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia - but making it in somewhere as far a field as Hong Kong was a real bonus."
Finwood, which employs six people, designs stone basins, bowls and bathtubs as well as tiles, which are then made in China.
The company is looking to break into the project markets in China, so its products are specified by designers and architects when they are drawing up their plans for upmarket hotels and restaurants.
Mr Lancashire said: "There are a lot of projects going on and developments in China so there is hopefully a lot of opportunities for us over there.
"We have supplied them with some of our products and are testing the water. They have been on display for two weeks and there has been a lot of interest so far."
Mr Lancashire said Coventry and Warwickshire chamber had proved very helpful in their visit to the Far East.
"Malcolm Vaughan at the Chamber was extremely helpful and gave us the advice and information we needed to take our product abroad.
"The Chamber was able to support a trip for us through UKTI's 'Market Visit Programme' to go and meet the potential clients, and we struck a deal.
"It's great news not just because of the deal in Hong Kong, but because of the potential it has to move across to China."
International trade adviser, Mr Vaughan, said: "Exporting has a lot to do with simply getting out there and showing your face - this is a real example of a local company doing just that and reaping the benefits."
