Light at end of the Chunnel in hunt for foreign investment

IN the past few weeks, two French firms sealed deals to open offices in Derby.

Investment from over the Channel created 2,765 jobs in 2008-9 and, according to UK Trade and Investment, that is set to increase when figures are released this summer.

France is our top European investor and, at the Paris headquarters of UK Trade and Investment, there is a belief that there is a wealth of opportunity to develop Anglo-French commercial relations.

Andrew Holt is deputy director of trade and investment, based at the British Embassy in Paris, one of about 40 people working for UKTI in France to support UK businesses wanting to get a commercial foothold across the Channel and French firms investing in the UK.

He said: "The three key market opportunities in France are high-technology, healthcare and food and drink."

The Paris office of UKTI has already had some aerospace success in Derby, having helped international management consultancy Arttic set up an office at the iD Centre, off London Road, in 2008.

Arttic now manages a number of aerospace research and development projects for European consortia.

Ian Eden is a senior consultant at Arttic in Derby.

He said: "We are working on managing a number of projects designed to increase the efficiency of aero engines which are being led by Rolls-Royce."

The three major projects Arttic is working on have multi-million-pound budgets and are part-funded by the European Commission.

"It is our role to ensure that the work carried out by numerous different partners is done correctly and on time and then produce progress reports to the European Commission," said Mr Eden.

"There is a lot of work here in Derby and we may soon have to take on additional staff."

As well as at its French headquarters in Paris, UKTI has representatives at British consulates who have built up knowledge of different sectors.

The consulate in Bordeaux handles aerospace inquiries because of its proximity to a number of large hubs of French aerospace.

With Lyon being a centre of the French chemical industry, UKTI's pharmaceuticals advisers are based there.

Mr Holt said: "Healthcare is a developing market in France.''

Melbourne-based firm Oxford Nutrascience, which specialises in innovative delivery systems for supplements and drugs, has ambitions for the French market.

Chief executive Nigel Theobald said: "At the moment, we are not targeting pharmaceuticals because that will be approached globally but we anticipate a very strong market for our cranberry chews."

The cranberry chews, which are about to be launched in the UK, are said to unique in that they deliver the nutritional equivalent of a 250ml glass of cranberry juice in one low-calorie chew.

According to Mr Holt, another growing area for UK exporters to France is food and drink.

He said: "French habits are changing. That means there is growing demand for snacks and confectionery which has traditionally been a strong area for UK firms."

One example is Ingleby-based healthy snacks firm Crips, which sells about 3,000 bags of crisps per month in France.

Director Karl Traae said: "In September last year, we went to a big food and drink show in Paris, having got a grant from UKTI, who help companies out with their first international trade fair.

"There we met an importer and wholesaler from a French firm called Fresh Food Village, which now regularly buys our products."

Another success has been getting Crips on to buffet cars in French trains. It is a rare British commercial presence on a French railway.

Two years ago, a Derbyshire rail safety firm had high hopes of landing a contract with the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, responsible for the upkeep of the Paris Metro.

Sperry Rail, based off Ascot Drive, sent two operators and a vehicle loaded with ultrasonic testing equipment to the Paris Metro to test 100km of track for faults.

Director Justin Stroud said: "It cost us quite a lot of money and we carried out a huge amount of work but there was no contract at the end of it."

The company was looking to land a contract that would have been worth between £300,000 and £400,000 per annum.

Mr Stroud said: "We work all over Europe but France is by far the toughest nut to crack."

There may be a chink of light at the end of the tunnel for county rail firms looking to get into the potentially lucrative French market.

Mr Holt said: "The SNCF, which runs French rail services, has split from the track authority and the rail sector is something UKTI in France is working on.

"We are running a number of seminars bringing UK suppliers into contact with people placing big infrastructure and maintenance orders."

According to Mr Holt, the message that UKTI in France is getting is that greater competition will bring prices down and make running French railways more efficient.

He said: "What we are doing is trying to get UK companies to fit into consortia in order to bid for large contracts."

Sperry Rail is still keen to get into the French market, despite the disappointment and expense of the failed RATP deal.

Mr Stroud said: "We've not given up hope and are still looking for opportunities there."

Of course, doing it by the UKTI book is not the only way to successfully export to France and, alongside hi-tech concerns, there is room for traditional businesses with the right product.

One Derbyshire company has succeeded despite seemingly overwhelming odds.

Selling lingerie to France seems, to the untrained eye, akin to selling snow to Eskimos, though Alfreton firm David Nieper has managed the feat.

It sends about 2.5m catalogues to France each year, a significant number of which are mailed to Paris's most exclusive arrondissements.

Managing director Christopher Nieper said: "The French market represents around 25% of our business and we have set up an office in Lille to deal with orders and inquiries.

"We are unusual in that we are a Derbyshire company which is selling lingerie to the French, even more in that we are buying French laces, Swiss cottons, Italian satins, then design and sew the clothes in Alfreton, only to be sold back to exclusive, private French clients."

Many of the textiles used by the firm are imported from close to the Alps, where pure alpine water is used for the manufacture of the kind of fabrics used in haute couture and seen on catwalks. A number of models for the lingerie are also flown from Paris to Alfreton for catalogue photo shoots.

Mr Nieper said: "Our French customers appreciate the high-quality materials and the personal service that we provide.

"No more than two people work on each garment.

"Once it's finished, workers will sign the label and they regularly get letters from French customers thanking staff for their efforts.

"Our French clients appreciate traditional values, courtesy and attention to detail."

So successful has David Nieper's French mail order operation become that La Poste, the French Post Office, has created a dedicated overnight service expressly for the Alfreton firm, which employs 200 people.

"There is a parcel centre set up just south of Lille, which means that we can get orders out to customers within 48 hours of receiving them," said Mr Nieper.

It took about three years of negotiations between David Nieper and La Poste for this service to come into being but the lingerie firm's persistence has paid off.

The service is now working so well that Mr Nieper has been invited to be a speaker at a French mail order conference.

"I believe that to succeed in France you really have to be integrated there and work very closely with the French because everything that can go wrong usually will," Mr Nieper said.

David Nieper is one of the many businesses that have contributed to cutting the UK trade deficit with France from £5bn to £2.3bn in recent years.

It is proof that, for Derbyshire firms with the right products correctly targeted, an entente cordiale with our French cousins can prove lucrative.