Rye Technology Ltd‘s ambition to increase exports has been given a further boost by a £1.1m investment.
The money – consisting of £300,000 from the management team and £600,000 from parent company Glenfinnan – is to be used by the Buckinghamshire wood machinery specialist to develop sales offices in the US and Germany and to accelerate the introduction of new products. Rye has been less active in the export market over the past 10 years and has now set its sights on raising exports from 25% to 75% of turnover (TTJ December 16/23, 2000).
The company’s German sales office became operational in December and a US office will be opened by the middle of the year.
Rye Technology managing director Adam Kingdon said: ‘Rye used to have a really strong position in exports in the late 1970s but the previous management let overseas sales go. The present management realise that to carry on growing the company we will need to develop our overseas markets.’
The £7m-turnover company views the US market for routers as ripe for growth and has already achieved a number of sales there of its QM CNC series, which has been developed specially for the market. And it wants to win a share of the German pattern-making market which, it says, is the largest in Europe.
Improvements in productivity at the High Wycombe company – put in place by the management team brought in by Glenfinnan two years ago – are claimed to make Rye’s output competitive with Continental manufacturers.
Cost savings have enabled the company to give its new QM CNC router a base price of £60,000, compared with its predecessor which came in at £100,000.
In exchange for the management team’s £300,000 investment, Glenfinnan has given Rye’s senior managers a controlling stake in the company.
