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17th April 2024 Issue no. 701
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UK tracking software company wins 5M contract in China
In the month that Prime Minister David Cameron visited China and encouraged UK firms to explore the many opportunities to expand their businesses there, Lancashire software company HW Communications has just clinched more than £5m worth of new business in the country, after spending a year building up a relationship with China Mobile.
The contract has increased the company's turnover fivefold and means that 90% of its business is now in the export sector.
HW Communications supplies location-tracking data which enables users to locate a SIM card, allowing them to track mobile phones and millions of machine to machine (M2M) devices which use SIM cards for data communication.
The company was established 20 years ago and in the last six years its main focus has been developing enhanced positioning software and geo-location services. These systems use data about mobile phone antenna masts, surrounding buildings and terrain to calculate the accurate location of a mobile device.
Data is transmitted to clients over the web, and has a wide range of uses, from tracking lone workers and/or those whose work takes them to a number of locations during one shift (ideal for the cleaning industry!), to enabling the security industry, logistics sector and companies with high risk assets to track their resources. Currently there are 2,000 devices being tracked by the company's software in the UK.
Unlike GPS satellite systems the devices can operate indoors as well as outdoors, and power consumption is kept to a minimum, with devices having a battery life of up to five years.
HW Communications began its export journey by signing up to the Passport to Export Programme, UKTI's flagship scheme for new and inexperienced exporters, initially to win contracts in France as well as China, and they have now been successful in both markets.
The company subsequently took part in the Gateway to Global Growth programme for more experienced exporters. Both programmes have provided advice, training and assistance towards market visits to help HW Communications achieve its export potential.
"We have been building our relationship with China Mobile over the past year. This has resulted in a number of visits to China and representatives from China Mobile coming over to Lancaster," says Company Director Souroush Honary.
"We initially had enquiries from China regarding a child tracking device. These enquiries led to senior representatives from China Mobile becoming more interested in our activities and considering how the solution may be used for a number of different applications and they have since set up a team specifically to work with us.
"Over the past few months we have had successful trials and China Mobile has now requested us to roll out our solution across provinces in China. This week we have won a large order from a logistics company in China (Surmount) that has committed to use our Loco-Cell service for over 150,000 devices in the next couple of years. This particular order will rollout from January 2011 with more than 5000 new devices being added to our Loco Service each month.
"The support provided to us from UKTI has been invaluable; in particular input received from our trade adviser Jim Robinson has really helped us to make the most of our opportunities. As a small company we have really benefitted from having an international trade adviser to speak with and his experience of different markets has been incredibly useful.
"We hope the steps taken in China may lead to even more business, and we look forward to the challenges ahead and will aim to continue to work closely with UKTI as we continue to move forward."
Jim Robinson, International Trade Adviser for UK Trade & Investment, says:
"The telecoms industry has low margins and high volumes, so a company like HW Communications needs large orders to enable it to thrive. We have been delighted to help HW Communications on its export journey, and are thrilled that the company has achieved such a great success so early on.
"We would encourage other companies who are looking to increase their export potential to get in touch with the International Trade Team and see how we can help."
For further information on UK Trade & Investment services, contact the North West International Trade Team:
T: +441524 888604
T: +44 (0)20 7215 8000
1st December 2010