Eastern Delights for Arrow Solutions with 25% export growth

Posted on 11 Oct 2016 by Jonny Williamson

One of the UK’s leading manufacturers of cleaning and maintenance products, Arrow Solutions has reported a 25% increase in business in the Middle and Far East after expanding its network of distributors.

Image courtesy of Arrow Solutions.
L to R: Karim Yaacoub (Almaraya Detergents Trading LLC); Jonathan Lane, Jeremy Moore (both Arrow Solutions); Hussain Eyadah (Power Clean Co); James Lomas (Arrow Solutions); Candy Zhang (Shunyi Development Co. Ltd Zhuhai S.E.Z); Ala’ Al-Hihi, Boyang Zhou (both Arrow Solutions); and Abdul Ghani Kataya (Almaraya Detergents Trading LLC).

Arrow Solutions, which supplies into the aerospace, high value engineering, rail and commercial hygiene markets, has seen sales in these territories rise at its fastest rate in 35 years.

The announcement was made during the latest international visit to its Leicestershire facility, which saw visitors from major Chinese, Arabian and Kuwaiti manufacturers learn more about the business, its technology and future expansion plans.

Sales director at Arrow Solutions, Jonathan Lane explained: “More than half our total sales are now made overseas, and two of the fastest growing areas are the Middle East and the Far East.

“This is no accident. We recognised early on that these markets were changing and that our range of cleaning and maintenance products not only offered the outstanding performance they required, but also fitted in with a desire to use safer and more environmentally friendly technology.”

Lane continued: “This is just the start. There is so much potential out there to sell our products in greater volumes or to replace unsuitable chemicals.

“We estimate we could be generating sales of £10m in these territories within the next five years.”

Arrow has had a concerted presence in the Middle East since 2010, led by regional manager, Ala’ Al-Hihi, and has more than 10 strategic distributors in place. Two of its most successful partners are Almaraya Detergents Trading LLC (a specialist in the commercial hygiene sector) and Power Clean Co.

The latter is working with a host of Kuwait government organisations to meet EPA standards, including Kuwait Public Transport, the Fire Service and Kuwait Airways.

The company is making equally impressive inroads into the Far East after setting up Arrow Trading Shanghai, a significant investment in creating a dedicated sales/technical office in the City and a warehousing operation nearby.

This local presence is already reaping dividends, securing a string of new contracts to supply market leading degreaser Lotoxane® to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Beijing Metro.

Lane added: “Hosting China Shunyi for the first time is a major step forward for Arrow in China.

“They have many subsidiaries in almost all provinces of China, potentially giving us great coverage across all of the key areas.”