Mr. Madden travelled to the precision machinist as part of a UK Trade & Investment tour of the North West and East Midlands.
Lattimer managing director Mark Hailwood led a guided tour of the factory which makes more than 20,000 component parts. Mr Hailwood explained the importance of Australia to his business as an emerging exports hub to the broader Asia Pacific Rim.
He said exports accounted for more than 80% of Lattimer’s total sales, with more than 5% coming from Australia. Mr Hailwood added that sales in the region had doubled to £500,000 in the last 12 months.
“It was a privilege to open our doors to such a high profile guest,” he said. “The commissioner takes an extremely active role in promoting UK business in Australia as well as helping to drive trade and connect firms between the two regions.
“We were able to communicate the strong progress we have been making in Australia through the supply of component parts to manufacturers in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. We have enjoyed further success in Auckland, New Zealand. This region holds great future potential for Lattimer and acts as a gateway to the Southeast Asian market, where we have seen recent success in the Philippines and Indonesia.”
Mr Madden’s tour saw him meeting with more than 40 companies in three days to promote the opportunities in the Australian market.
Mr Hailwood said the group’s Lattimer Glass Services division, based in Birmingham, is also seeing growing demand in Australia. This part of the business focuses on maintenance, rebuild and repair of machines and equipment used in the manufacture of glass containers.