A York company is reaching for the world to sell its machinery designed and built at its base in Elvington.

Sheppee International, which supplies innovative machinery for the glass container industry, already exports 95 per cent of its turnover – which last year was £8.5 million – around the globe. Now the company has set up an office in China to take advantage of the expanding markets in China, Indonesia and Thailand.

Sheppee recently began supplying the Australian market and is now eyeing the massive potential of the American market.

Building relationships with existing customers has provided new opportunities, enabled the product to be sold into new geographic areas and provide a reference point for new customers in new markets.

This strategy culminated in Sheppee winning the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International trade for 2013. It is also why the company is entering the Dare To Export and Large Business categories in The Press Business Awards 2013.

The Sheppee brand is globally recognised throughout the glass container industry.

It is a market leader in hotware handling in the glass industry, in fact it is the only company to specialise completely in this line.

Entry into new markets has seen Sheppee through the recession and enabled it to achieve a company record turnover in the financial year to June 2012. This has resulted in additional industrial units being taken on to provide additional capacity help reduce the lead time in supplying products, as well as the addition of six staff since the recession period of 2009.

Improved communication, the development of key relationships with machine suppliers further up the production line has enabled Sheppee, with managing director Jon Wilson at the helm, to grow in recent years to achieve record levels of turnover.

Regular communication with existing and potential customers is fundamental to gaining confidence and entering new markets.

A sales database is regularly updated to ensure all information is recorded, assisting in understanding new markets. The setting up of an Asian representative office has provided same-time zone support and cultural understanding of the requirements within the China market.

The China office has also allowed Sheppee to represent other companies within the same industry, selling their products, acting as an agent and taking a commission.