Support to Perform secures first export business in Europe
Belfast based SME, Support to Perform has secured its first sales in the Belgian market with Belgian multinational building materials firm, ETEX. Support to Perform is using its experience in sport and exercise science to roll out its Oopla Activity Challenge across ETEX's offices in 42 countries around the world.
Established in 2018, Support to Perform provides performance consultancy and coaching support services, which help organisations improve employee wellbeing. The company works with clients including Graham Construction, Danske, HSCNI, Allstate and the Irish FA.
Results and summary of benefits realised
Announcing its first export success, Dr Jonathan Bloomfield, Owner of Support to Perform said: "Since starting out in 2018, we have worked hard to grow our business. Representing our first export success, this deal is an important milestone as we seek to grow our business globally and will see Oopla rolled out across ETEX's offices around the world.
"We are passionate about helping organisations improve employee wellbeing and when we first contacted Invest NI we were at the very early stages of our business plan and export journey. Participating on the Invest NI Design Programmes has been vitally important in helping us scale up our online business and develop our identity and brand. Its marketing and technical assistance has led us to develop new marketing material, which is helping us grow our reputation and brand presence in numerous export markets, including Belgium. It's an exciting time for our business; our strategy is to grow our exports to at least 50 percent over the next three years and we very much look forward to using this deal as a catalyst to achieve this."
Support to Perform's success follows a range of Invest NI support to help it to export for the first time. Invest NI has offered the company £27,500 of support towards design, marketing and legal assistance to help it protect the use of its products across different countries as well as comply with global GDPR.
How did ERDF funding, through the EU Investment for Growth & Jobs Programme, contribute to the success of the project/scheme?
Congratulating the company, Anne Beggs, Invest NI's Director of Trade & Investment said: "Support to Perform's success in the Belgian market is excellent news for the company and is testament to its ongoing commitment and hard work to grow its business in global markets. Invest NI offers a range of support which can help a company begin to export from an experienced team of trade advisors and support for marketing activities to a range of export capability development programmes to support businesses to begin to sell overseas.
"Support to Perform participated on two of our Design Programmes where it utilised the expertise of our design consultants to establish a new product, secure UK and European trademarks and used our marketing assistance to help it develop a digital marketing strategy to drive sales growth in export markets. This demonstrates that our support can make a positive impact on a business and we look forward to assisting Support to Perform to grow and expand its global footprint further."
Invest NI's R&D support is part funded by ERDF under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020
Dr Jonathan Bloomfield, Owner, Support to Perform