Colourful Expansion in the International Markets

Posted on: 22nd June 2010

ColorMatrix Europe is a local company part of a Global group with sister companies in America, South America, and Asia.

We are a chemical company, leading manufacturer of liquid colours and additives for the plastics industry.

As a group, the company takes a holistic, total package approach to help its customers maximise their production efficiencies and improve both the performance and aesthetics of their products. The company was founded in 1972 in Cleveland, Ohio and today employs over 250 personnel globally

Much of this growth has come through its new colorants and process improvement additives in the beverage packaging sector in developing economies.

The European company counts a main manufacturing site, founded in 1993 in Knowsley Business Park, a second small plant with commercial headquarters in Holland and a more recent acquisition in Moscow where we have at the moment a commercial office but are looking at expanding with warehousing facilities.

Since its establishment in 1993, the company, has grown at an impressive rate and now sells over 90% of its liquid colorant and additive technologies outside the UK to more than 50 countries worldwide.

We are proud to see that the business venture of three friends that met at the Business School in Manchester and started off in the backyard of a Victorian house delivering the product in an old Renault 5 has translated in a business supplying today to numerous countries covering all of Europe, Eastern Europe, the Sub Indian continent, Middle East and Africa.

The turnover last year was 38,260,000, with more than 20,000,000 millions sold to Export countries (outside the European Union). Export sales were about 16,000,000 in 2008.

The recognition to this effort to export the technology of a local British company has been given with a Queens Award for Export business received last July by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

The 2009 was actually the 3rd Queens’ award in International Trade for ColorMatrix Europe, and the company's 4th Queens Award in total, having won an Award for Innovation in 2002

ColorMatrix Europe's international customer service and sales teams, in most cases, are able to speak to customers in their own language. This has also clearly made a significant impact on their success.

We count just fewer than 20 nationalities among our employees, speaking as many languages.

People in key roles are trained about all the requirements when dealing with export customers, from a logistics and regulatory perspective.

Most of the employees in the Customer relations and shipping department are trained at the Chamber of Commerce in export procedures.

We are happy with the level of training received over the years and where possible we prefer to work with local companies or bodies.

Further recognition to our effort in International trade is the inaugural UKTI North West Chemicals Sector Award for International Trade which ColorMatrix Europe won last year.

The award, which was organised by Chemicals Northwest and sponsored by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) was set up to recognise the high level of innovation and hard work carried out by chemical companies in the North West.

Chemicals is one of the UK's largest manufacturing sectors but is particularly strong in the North West.

UKis now highly competitive on the international stage; the award was aimed to celebrate those companies heavily contributing to this success

In addition to its commitment to international trade, ColorMatrix attributes its success to a strong focus on innovation, an entrepreneurial spirit and a dedicated R&D team capable of developing new technologies that drive its markets forward

As true innovators in liquid dispersion technologies the company believes its success is, in part, due to maintaining a strong entrepreneurial spirit which has helped to drive innovation and new product developments and enable it to become a leader in its field rather than a follower.

On a strategic level, the company's Managing Director, William Ravenna believes that a key factor to their success is all about "focus".

He explains: "By following a carefully planned strategy of specifically targeting markets where we know our specialist technologies are able to add real value, we have been able to develop a deep understanding of our customer requirements. By working in close partnership with them, we have been able to develop customised solutions that have allowed them to make a shift change in their production processes."

The company is clearly proud of its dedicated team of professionals that have supported this strategy and played an important part in the company's achievement. With a host of new technologies in the pipeline for 2009/10, ColorMatrix is looking forward to the prospect of adding another Innovation award to its growing portfolio in the coming years.

What is nice that in spite of the constant growth even in difficult times and the success at International level the atmosphere at our Knowsley site is still the same of the early years, very much like in a family run business.

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