UKTI have helped Dr Nik Kotecha’s pharmaceutical business to more than double its overseas sales in the past six years. Working with UKTI, he has won and delivered large tenders and widened his knowledge of overseas markets.

Morningside Pharmaceuticals was set up by Dr Nik Kotecha and his wife, Moni Kotecha in 1991. Today, the company operates from three large warehouses and offices in Loughborough from where it supplies medicines and medical devices worldwide.

With a strong focus on quality and customer care, the company tailors its products and packaging to its customers.

In the UK, the business supplies the NHS, pharmacies, wholesalers and private hospitals while overseas its customers include international aid agencies and charities such as Red Cross, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.

Working with UKTI, the company has experienced exponential growth in overseas earnings, gaining 54 new customers in the last three years, and won the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2012.

What led you to look at overseas markets?

Our main aspiration was to make quality healthcare an affordable reality throughout the world, so we wanted to start exploring the opportunities of exporting as soon as possible.

How did you find out about UKTI?

We have been getting help and advice from UKTI for over 20 years. Most recently, we have used their OMIS programme, and I am a UKTI Catalyst member. I am passionate about exporting and believe that UKTI can help other businesses.

How has UKTI’s OMIS service helped?

We have used OMIS to attend important bid openings for major contracts at a UN agency in Copenhagen.

This means we have a representative at the bid opening and get first hand confirmation that our bid is delivered safely.

One particular tender was for medical examination gloves, which are used for the prevention of the spread of infection. We were successful and more than 20 million pairs have now been delivered to Africa and other developing countries worldwide.

How did the OMIS service work?

We gave UKTI a list of the information we wanted to find out from the bid opening such as the highest bid, lowest bid and lead times. It was fed back quickly in an understandable format. This helps us to make important decisions about future bids, and also about what our competitors, from all over the world, are doing.

How did you find this service?

We are very comfortable with UKTI dealing directly with our tenders and will definitely use this service in the future as it saves us time and money. I would recommend it to other UK businesses.

In the past, we have flown out ourselves. It’s expensive but if you are a first-timer to the tender process, especially for international aid agencies, it can be useful to get experience of how the process works. Once you have been, it makes sense to use a UKTI representative to attend on your behalf in future.

Company name: Morningside Pharmaceuticals

Sector: Healthcare and Medical

UKTI services used: OMIS

How else have UKTI helped you?

In the medical and pharmaceutical industry there are regulatory requirements to be adhered to in most countries. UKTI have helped us learn about the differing requirements worldwide.

UKTI provide very useful market reports where they conduct a thorough study of the business potential in a country of your choice. They did a successful report on Russia for us, and we will be working with them on China next.

They are helping us to arrange an Ambassador’s reception in Dubai where our customers will come together to celebrate us winning the Queen’s Award.

Contacts

If you are interested in developing your business overseas please contact your local International Trade Advisor.