Export business is booming for West Bromwich firm Tansun.

The company, established in 1983, makes sunbeds, electric indoor and patio heaters and motorised exercise chairs at its Ridgacre Road premises. It has about 80 employees.

It has been working with UK Trade & Investment - the Government body set up to support British companies in overseas trade - for several years, and export orders now total more than 40 per cent of its annual sales.

Marketing manager Lynn Parsons said: "We are exporting our sunbeds to Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy and the US.

" The electric patio heaters have proved popular all over the world - for instance, in North and South America, the Far East and the Pacific Rim - and form a large growth area of our business.

" We have recently developed a range of motorised exercise chairs, mainly aimed at people aged over 40, to enable them to carry out a complete body workout within 30 minutes, with 140 different exercise options.

"We are exporting the chairs throughout Europe and to Japan, and we are now planning to extend the sales in the Far East." Representatives from Tansun have attended a number of trade missions organised by UK Trade & Investment, most recently to the US and Germany. It has also showcased its products at a number of exhibitions with funding from the trade body, including the leading European show, Spoga in Cologne.

UK Trade & Investment's services in the Black Country are delivered through Black Country Chamber & Business Link.

Regional international trade adviser Graham Ashmore said: "Tansun has shown great enterprise in developing products that have worldwide opportunities in significantly different sectors. Pete Rana and his team very much deserve the success they are now getting through their exporting efforts."