Member Article

Eastern Delights as Arrow reports 25% international growth

One of the UK’s leading manufacturers of cleaning and maintenance products has reported a 25% increase in business in the Middle East and Far East after expanding its network of distributors.

Arrow Solutions, which supplies into the aerospace, high value engineering, rail and commercial hygiene markets, has seen sales in these territories rise at its fastest rate in 35-years.

The announcement was made during the latest international visit to its Leicestershire facility, which saw visitors from Shunyi Development Co. Ltd Zhuhai S.E.Z., Almaraya Detergents Trading LLC (United Arab Emirates) and Power Clean Co (Kuwait) learn more about the business, its technology and future expansion plans.

“More than half our total sales are now made overseas and two of the fastest growing areas are the Middle East and the Far East,” explained Jonathan Lane, Sales Director at Arrow Solutions.

“This is no accident. We recognised early on that these markets were changing and that our range of cleaning and maintenance products not only offered the outstanding performance they required, but also fitted in with a desire to use safer and more environmentally friendly technology.”

He continued: “This is just the start. There is so much potential out there to sell our products in greater volumes or to replace unsuitable chemicals. We estimate we could be generating sales of £10m in these territories within the next five years.”

Arrow has had a concerted presence in the Middle East since 2010, led by Regional Manager Ala’ Al-Hihi, and has more than ten strategic distributors in place.

Two of its most successful partners are Almaraya Detergents Trading LLC (a specialist in the commercial hygiene sector) and Power Clean Co. The latter is working with a host of Kuwait Government organisations to meet EPA standards, including Kuwait Public Transport, the Fire Service and Kuwait Airways.

The company is making equally impressive inroads into the Far East after setting up Arrow Trading Shanghai, a significant investment in creating a dedicated sales/technical office in the City and a warehousing operation nearby.

This local presence is already reaping dividends, securing a string of new contracts to supply market leading degreaser Lotoxane® to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Beijing Metro.

Jonathan went on to add: “Hosting China Shunyi for the first time is a major step forward for Arrow in China. We hold similar ethical values of improving the environment and creating a good culture for our employees and this resonated with their Sales Director during the visit.

“They have many subsidiaries in almost all provinces of China, potentially giving us great coverage across all of the key areas. Following our meeting, we will work together to identify the right solutions for our customers.”

Candy Zhang, Sales Director at China Shunyi, commented: “I have been very impressed with what I’ve seen at Arrow. The technology and products are there, but more importantly the business culture is very similar to our own and I can see there is potential for a longer-term relationship.”

Arrow Solutions, which is part of the £25m strong Reabrook Ltd, is also looking to grow market share in the UK, Norway and Russia.

This will be achieved by ‘setting the standard for maintenance and cleaning’ and focusing on core products, including Lotoxane®, Ecowash Autoshine and Aircraft Cleaner 281.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .