Shrewsbury-based oil-blending company Morris Lubricants , which employs 210 people and has 800 product lines, has seen a 40% increase in its overseas sales.
Exports to 85 countries world-wide now account for more than £15 million of the company’s £50 million turnover, and this figure is expected to grow following the launch in April of a subsidiary
in India.
This subsidiary — Paterson Lubricants India — aims to establish a presence in that country’s large automotive and motorcycle markets through distribution partner George Oakes, which has 35 branch offices there. Lubricants are made in India to the company’s existing formulations.
Morris has also started exporting to Russia, Italy, Vietnam, Mongolia and Azerbaijan in the last year, and its international business is growing in its traditional territories — Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australasia and North America.
Managing director Andrew Goddard, a descendant of company founder James Kent Morris, said that the strong overseas performance had been achieved despite a “challenging” year.
The increase in exports created a need for more space to store orders before despatch, so the company has bought premises next to its Shrewsbury manufacturing plant — and more warehousing may yet be added.
Further investment will see £250,000 spent on a new small-pack filling line at the Shrewsbury plant.