British oven maker Aga eyes America as house prices recover "We are looking for North America to go appreciably better this year," says McGrath. We are quite bullish. The confidence comes from the new electric model that Aga has developed, as well as the signs that America's housing market is at last staging a recovery. "There is the changing functionality of the oven," he said. You can turn it off and on more easily which means it is better suited to countries with more extreme climates. The electric oven, unlike Aga's better-known gas-powered product, also requires less installation and technical support. The Aga boss will also have been cheered by figures this week that showed the recovery in home prices over the past 12 months has left American households in better financial shape than at any time since the crisis. Aga has actually been in the US since the 1930s, when the country was grappling with the Great Depression. Indeed, Falling Water, the famous house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, America's best-known architect, was built in 1936 with an Aga installed in the kitchen. Hollywood star Sharon Stone once even claimed that an Aga was the first thing she would save in a fire, although the company's lightest model weighs in at some 64 stone. North America currently accounts for between10pc and 20pc of the company's sales. Aga's next biggest opportunity, according to McGrath, is China, where the company has a distribution partnership with a local business. Aga hopes to join the thousands of western companies lining up to profit from the emergence of millions of wealthy Chinese. "We do think that the Chinese home is changing," argues McGrath. There is a greater propensity to live in the kitchen rather than the living room, and we think that will be good for us. Aga, which makes the bulk of its ovens in the UK, generates about 37pc of its sales overseas. The ambition is for an even split between the company's domestic and foreign markets, says McGrath. The executive is also ready to praise the Government's effort last year to champion British businesses during the Olympics. "Authentic British brands matter a lot," he said. The Government's campaign last year did make a difference and I think brands should be working to trade off that. Shares in Aga closed up 1.2pc at 86p yesterday, as the City offered some applause for its international ambition and results that met expectations. With the company leaner than it was five years ago, the hope among investors is that cheques written by foreign buyers will land straight on to Aga's bottom line. "If they start to see even modest sales growth, you should get some nice profit growth," said Matthew McEachran, an analyst in London at N+1 Singer. McGrath now just needs to get out his map and find those buyers.