A Sheffield manufacturing company was able to survive the economic downturn with the help of exports, it has been revealed.

In the past half decade, Numill Engineering has increased its export business, with clients in central and western Europe buying its goods.

Firms that are keen to tap into export markets might need to do their homework first, and take advantage of the services offered by translation professionals.

In the case of Numill Engineering, which repairs tooling and manufacturing machine tools,its managing director Anne Wilson says 45% of the firm’s output is now exported overseas.

She commented: “Without exports and our manufacturing facility I doubt whether we would have survived because that has given us a diverse customer base that made sure we didn’t have all our eggs in one basket.”

While European clients have given the company a boost, Numill is now looking further afield, and is considering opportunities in Asia.