Swansea-based Axium Process, a manufacturer of specialist filtration systems and stainless-steel process equipment, has seen its turnover increase by more than 25% after targeting new overseas markets.

Founded in 2002 by Dave and Margaret Houldsworth, the company initially focused on trade within the UK after identifying a gap in the market for hygienic stainless-steel fabrication.

Its customer base now comprises companies in a range of industrial sectors, including nuclear, aerospace, pharmaceutical, food and beverage.

Today, it provides bespoke hygienic equipment and systems for most process industries and serves a growing market in industrial waste-water recycling systems.

Following initial success within the UK, Axium Process (www.axiumprocess.co.uk) explored overseas opportunities by participating in trade shows and trade missions in the Middle East, which led to the company signing its first Dubai-based distributor in 2005.

Thanks to support from the Welsh government, it recently signed up two distributors in Qatar.

Building on its growth prospects in South East Asia and having recently completed a filtration project with a multi-national beverage company based in Singapore, Axium now has agents in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

Business development director Derek Davies at said: “Due to the nature of our engineering-led business, our main strategy is to use carefully selected agents to maintain our presence overseas.

"In this way, we are always on hand to spot the big opportunities when they come along. This has allowed us to develop our international client base successfully, and recent developments at Cardiff Airport have made access to new international markets a practical proposition.”