Hyde-based Newland Engineering (www.newland-engineering.com) has been manufacturing vehicle-loading conveyors for over 50 years and exporting them since the early 1980s.

It currently has customers in more than 90 countries, and exporting accounts for more than half of its business. In 2017, it won a contract from Switzerland for 14 conveyor systems destined for a soya-bean processing plant in Bangladesh.

For a company with an annual turnover of £2 million, the £390,000 contract was significant.

Newland’s conveyors are custom-designed to suit the needs of each customer, and the company usually requests a partial advance payment to cover the cost of parts and materials, but overseas customers can be wary of providing money upfront.

Complicating matters further, the Swiss contract included a tight deadline and a penalty clause, but Newland had recently moved banks and did not have an overdraft facility.

The company got in touch with UK Export Finance, which worked with Santander and was able to provide 80% guarantees on both a working capital loan and a performance bond. The subsequent success of the deal allowed Newland to secure a significant stream of revenue.

Managing director Lynn Kerfoot said: “As a manufacturer, we are exposed to peaks and troughs in our business, so securing big orders like this is really important.

“We’re really grateful to UKEF; without its offer of support, we may not have been able to secure the cash we needed to buy the parts and deliver within the deadline.”