Member Article

Gazebo company pops up as winner at International Trade Awards

Within days of confirming yet another international distributor, Yorkshire based marquee and gazebo company, Gala Tent have been given the title of winner at the 2015 Yorkshire Insider International Trade Awards. The events supplier company has been named the International Company of the Year in the Insider’s up to £10m category.

Voted for by a panel of international trading professionals from the likes of South Yorkshire International Trade Centre and the UKTI, the Yorkshire Insider International Awards celebrate business excellence of firms whose commitment to international trade sees them exceed expectations on a daily basis while setting the bar for other UK companies.

Gala Tent is one of the UK’s leading distributors of marquees and gazebos but a recent move into international markets impressed the Insider International judges, who gave the following reason for the marquee company’s win; “With localised websites and back-office systems unique to each distributor in individual countries, the company allowed distributors to operate independently while still as part of the Gala brand.”

Most recently, the Rotherham based company has formed a partnership with Jersey home and garden retailer Romerils as part of their European expansion initiative. Gala Tent has been pushing to establish distributors throughout Europe since Summer 2014, with the aim of having 20 worldwide distributors by 2016. The company has already had a lot of success, with 10 under its belt including Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Malta.

Much like its European predecessors, Romerils will now have full exclusivity of distributing the award winning Gala Tent product range in Jersey. They will also have a functional bespoke e-commerce site and back office system created free of charge by Gala Tent UK, so they are able to track stock, log queries and market the brand.

On accepting the prestigious award, Martin Blacksell, Director of International Sales said; “The last 9 months have been great and to have established 10 overseas distributors already is more than we expected. The Award for International Company of the Year is just what we needed to spur us on to find the next 10.”

Yorkshire Business Insider editor Adam Lovell, host for the evening, said the winners and shortlisted companies on the night “all bring foreign currencies into the UK; that creates wealth and supports prosperity”. The awards dinner was held at the Royal Armouries Hall in Leeds city centre where over 100 representatives from Yorkshire companies joined the proceedings.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Michaela Stafford .