Case study: Solar firm’s sales look bright in Poland

A Cambridgeshire Solar Panel manufacturer has secured a Polish distributor in the growing Central Eastern European (CEE) renewables market with the support of Enterprise Europe Network.

Viridian Solar had been trying to break into Poland after discovering Europe’s sixth largest government planned to invest heavily in the renewables market following pressure from Brussels.

The Papworth based business says this is a significant overseas partner and hope the new deal will represent an important market for the solar thermal specialist as they look to diversify their sales.

“Poland’s renewable and environmentally friendly sectors are growing year – on – year. “In fact in 2012 Poland was the second fastest growing solar thermal market in Europe, behind only Germany in terms of newly installed capacity” said Jonathan Mitchell, International Sales Manager at Viridian Solar.

“Our research led us to join EEN’s trade mission to Poland last year, EEN pre – arranged a meeting for us with a potential Polish distributor in Warsaw.” Although it took us a while to thrash out a deal I’m confident our arrangement will lead to substantial new business for Viridian.”

Mark Hofman, a European Trade Adviser at Enterprise Europe Network who specialises in the CEE markets was confident Viridian could break into Poland and encouraged Mr Mitchell to register for the trade mission to Poland.

“Jon joined us on what was the first in our series of trade missions to the CEE markets and hasn’t looked back since” said Mr Hofman. “Working through our network of over thirty Polish offices I was able to locate appropriate partners for Viridian and the market research needed to secure market access.”

Working with over 600 partner organisations in Europe and beyond, Enterprise Europe Network are the continent’s largest business support network. Often partnering with UK Trade and Investment, EEN’s associates include Chambers of Commerce, Trade Associations, Regional Development Agencies, Growth Clusters and Universities.

With the Polish renewables sector recording 19% growth in 2012, Viridian Solar are regular visitors to Poland and Jon maintains the importance of frequent face – to – face contact with his Polish partners.

“Trade missions are a great way to build your network of contacts” says the International Sales Manager, “I plan to visit Poznan with EEN and UKTI later this year as we expect Poland to be a key market for us for years to come.”

For more information on how Enterprise Europe Network can help your business call 0845 641 9955 (option 2) or email [email protected]

Sectors: Solar
Countries: Poland
Export Action Plan