Red hot export deal for Wrexham cable specialist

6 Apr 2010 04:12 PM

Wrexham Mineral Cables, the only company in the UK making specialist electric cables capable of withstanding more than 1000 º C has signed a red hot export deal to supply the Middle East.

This week the Ruabon based business shipped out two 40ft containers full of high performance cables for use in a major multi million-pound upgrade of the electricity distribution infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates.

It is the company’s first major export to the region and the £250,000 order is the first of four run-on contracts they hope to secure over the next twelve months worth £1million in total.

The success follows a concerted export push by the company in order to mitigate the effects of the recession in the UK.

The company is being supported by the Welsh Assembly Government in making inroads into these new markets.

Wrexham Mineral Cables is the only company in the UK manufacturing these highly specialised fire survival cables and one of only a handful worldwide.

The mineral insulated cables provide circuit integrity for power and control circuits of critical equipment used in public buildings including hospitals, schools, hotels, sports grounds, transport hubs as well as power stations, foundries, mines and the oil and gas industry.

The company’s export drive in the Middle East has benefited from participating in Assembly Government led trade missions to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Dubai.

Wrexham Mineral Cables’s Divisional Manager Phil Thomas said these events provided a great opportunity to promote their highly specialised products and to meet senior key buyers from a number of business organisations.

The company also appointed a sales manager last year to help target the major markets in the Middle East.

“These markets offer tremendous opportunities for our products – far more than we originally thought. We have won this significant order, for the supply of specialist cables for new electricity distribution projects within the Emirates and have quoted for a number of other contracts which are in the pipeline..

“This new business compensates for the drop in the UK market – we have a number of good leads to follow up as a result of these missions and the organisations we have dealt with have all promised us an opportunity to quote for new work.”

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Minister for the Economy and Transport, welcomed the news and the support the Assembly Government had been able to provide.

“Wrexham Mineral Cables operates in a highly specialised niche market and I am pleased to see that it is maximising new opportunities overseas which is also compensating for a decline in UK sales as a result of the recession.

“The Assembly Government’s support is available to help businesses of all sizes explore and target overseas markets which is of particular relevance in the current challenging business environment.”  

The cables manufactured at Wrexham are the only mineral cables made in the world to carry accreditation from the British Approvals Service for cables (BASEC).

Wrexham Mineral Cables was established in 1989 to operate a unique patented manufacturing process in a purpose built facility. Part of a privately owned group it employs forty people in Wales.

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