Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Ian Sams and Mark Dawes of TROX UK with the Russian team

TROX UK Ltd, which has been established for almost half a century, has developed ‘Multi-Service Chilled Beams’ that obviate the need for suspended ceilings by combining air conditioning with lighting and other services required in one, neat ceiling-mounted unit.

Other facilities that can be encompassed in one of the beams include sprinkler systems, public address systems, detectors and sensors, cabling and CCTV.

The product is entirely designed, manufactured and marketed from the company’s Thetford facility, which has been regularly expanded over the years to keep pace with demand.

Mark Dawes, the company’s export manager, said: “The joy of this product is that it gives architects huge freedom when designing interior spaces. The beams become an attractive visual feature as they are designed and made to meet the particular needs of the building and are aimed at high quality developments.”

The Russian venture has been accelerated by using the Overseas Market Intelligence Service (OMIS) delivered by East of England International on behalf of UK Trade & Investment.

TROX UK used OMIS to launch the new building services system onto the Russian market. The UKTI trade team took a brief from the company and produced a market report identifying potential customers for the new product.

Through the commercial team in the British Embassy, they then invited prime contacts to a launch event in Moscow where the beam technology was unveiled.

Mark Dawes said: “We had identified Russia as a place where exciting, top of the market development is taking place. I met with Bradley Rowley, international trade adviser with EEI, and having found out more about the service had no hesitation in commissioning its help.

“As a result, we got exactly the audience we wanted with architects from the large local practices plus major developers. We ended up with well over 100 people and had to bring in extra seats to cope. There is no doubt this is going to lead to new business for us.

“The OMIS service represents great value for money. The number and quality of those attending the event far exceeded what we had expected.”

Bradley Rowley added: “TROX is a good example of how even well-established companies can benefit from OMIS. The company had a good idea of what it wanted to do and who it wanted to target.

“Through the commercial team in the British Embassy in Moscow we were able to provide a report on the market, identify the right contacts as well as organise their event with the added value of holding it at the Embassy.”

As a direct result of the event, TROX now has a number of project enquiries to follow through and is considering more product launches in St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg.

Mark Dawes said: “The support of the UKTI team in Moscow was far beyond expectations. They were organised, capable, extremely helpful and, on the night, helped us to present our product and the UK as a whole in a totally professional and user-friendly manner. I will certainly be recommending the service to others.”

TROX is a leading designer and manufacturer of HVCA and building services systems. Its origins date back to 1962 and over the years the company has established facilities in Thetford and Great Yarmouth to handle a turnkey design-to-manufacture offering.

Major expansion has taken place over the years and to support the company’s fast growing Middle East export market an office was opened in Dubai in 1996.