Customers’ needs are central for companies with abroad outlook

The business adviser said the most successful exporters are developing existing client relationships in order to break into international markets.

Research into 100 private firms with the fastest-growing international sales showed that almost half said client requirements drove their decision as to where to set up internationally.

One of the companies surveyed was the Leeds-based translation business thebigword which now has 8,000 linguists working in 77 countries.

Chief executive Larry Gould said: “We have seen dramatic overseas growth over the last ten years, with our approach being entirely strategic and driven by target clients.

“We have systematically identified companies that we want to have as clients in particular countries and then set up an office there in order to support them.”

Other Yorkshire companies which are successfully trading internationally include Elmwood Design, Multiflight, Clipper Logistics Group, Hydra Mining Tools International, Sheffield Refractories and Pricecheck Toiletries.

The most common first step is to target mainland Europe, with 80 per cent setting up there first.

Of the many barriers to entry, the unknown regulatory and legislative environment is viewed as the biggest risk to those polled, with 28 per cent citing it as a major concern.

Grant Thornton in Yorkshire partner Mike Redfern said: “With difficult market conditions at home, we are seeing increasing numbers of mid-market firms pursuing global opportunities to drive growth. Increasingly, they are looking beyond the historic major markets of the US and Europe to developing markets such as China, Africa and India.”