Julie Skelly

Columnist

Julie Skelly,

Head of Belfast Business Centre, Danske Bank

Companies Moving Back Into Growth Mode As Export Opportunities Return

As we move into the second half of 2021, it is incredibly positive to see a number of our customers starting to shift back into growth mode.

In the early part of last year, many companies who took government-backed coronavirus business interruption loans (CBILS) did so to help meet immediate cashflow needs; however, towards the end of 2020 and into early 2021 funding requests were predominantly for capex or business acquisition purposes.

Danske Bank is committed to helping Northern Ireland grow again and we are now also seeing early evidence of investment in plant and machinery coming through, which normally heralds an upward trend for general investment in business growth.

However, it is not a case of simply returning to pre-2020 business as usual. Many companies have pivoted into new product and service areas during the pandemic, and we’ve talked to a lot of customers who are now in the process of incorporating those new business wins into their long-term plans while their core business ramps up again.

One such company in that position is Danske Bank customer Environmental Street Furniture (ESF), a family-owned company who specialise in supplying high quality street and site furniture – from benches, bins and bollards to cycle shelters, signage and solar charging stations. The company sells its bespoke site furnishings into 26 export markets, with customers including theme parks, and retail schemes. This year it was awarded the Queen’s Award for International Trade.

ESF’s CEO Alan Lowry says the business had to adjust as face-to-face meetings and trade shows were cancelled and international travel was put on hold.

“I haven’t been on a plane for 16 months,” says Alan. “Our business is about making custom made furniture for big, often one-off projects, so you really need to be there to meet people so they can have confidence to know who they are dealing with. Zoom and video calls are ok, but it’s hard to build new relationships without being in front of people. We’ve missed exhibitions too as you get a much better sense of our products at exhibitions than on videos or websites.”

The company adapted to these challenges, focusing initially on its home market and pivoting to create new products that met the needs in the market, including hand gel stands and handwashing stations. Innovation is something that’s built into ESF’s DNA, says its CEO.

“We are always looking to innovate and that has been fast tracked now,” says Alan. “Electronic and connected products have been fast forwarded 5-10 years because of the pandemic, which makes R&D a high priority. Our generic products are bins, benches and bollards – but even in these traditional products we are trying to integrate wi-fi and solar to solve problems for businesses.

“Our focus is on innovation. We don’t go to customers with a product in mind, we go in to try to find solutions to their problems, and that often leads to new products.”

ESF hopes to be able to attend trade shows in Europe and the US soon and to start visiting customers in the Middle East, and while initially trade may be slow with customers such as theme parks, there is interest from elsewhere, including a number of city councils in the US and Canada who are interested in the company’s solar powered products.

Alan believes there is potential to secure new projects from a number of sectors and countries, and innovation will be the key to reaching pre-pandemic levels.

“Our next product is actually a smart defibrillator cabinet aimed at the US market. We saw how important defibrillators are in the Euro 2020 football tournament. It’s estimated the US needs as many as 30 million defibrillators in public places. If we can tap into that market it will be huge for us.”

“However, it is not a case of simply returning to pre-2020 business as usual. Many companies have pivoted into new product and service areas during the pandemic”