BHETA has announced its November export trade mission to Bucharest, Romania, was a huge success, opening up a number of commercial opportunities.
The two-day event was organised in partnership with the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce (BRCC), involving a mix of UK housewares and home improvement suppliers and BHETA representation.
The BRCC kicked off the trip with a presentation featuring input from Romanian legal experts McGregor & Partners, accounts KR Group, data experts Nielson Romania, and retailers: MAM Bricolage, Vivre and Mobexpert.
Delegates also had the opportunity to take part in one-to-one meetings with Romanian retailers to discuss trade opportunities. Retailers available for discussions included: Arabesque (building materials), MAM Bricolage (furniture materials and accessories), emag (Romanian equivalent to Amazon), Vivre (home, gift and lifestyle), and Mobexpert (largest Romanian furniture, lifestyle and accessories distributor).
BRCC’s Madalina Ciinaru said, "This is a great model which offers much value to UK exporters."
Romania has recently seen developing trends in both gardening and housewares, with its DIY market worth an estimated 2-3 billion euros per year. DIY retailers reported a sales growth of up to 30% in 2016, with Dedeman and Arabesque holding 80% of the market share. The country's economy is set to continue growing with customers increasingly demanding convenience and high quality.
Home improvement sector director, Paul Grinsell said, “BHETA is enabling some really positive export initiatives including trade missions such as this and the recent very successful sales push in Slovenia. We have more export events coming up and I really hope to see many members taking advantage of these opportunities.”
BHETA’s housewares sector director, Will Jones, added, "The mission was a great success with suppliers provided with in depth insight into the market over the course of two days. We met with bricks and mortar retailers as well as several online opportunities. It was great to see so many suppliers networking with each other and learning from each other’s export journeys."
"Export can seem daunting for companies not already involved, so it’s great that BHETA can now offer really practical support, alongside the experience of existing exporters amongst the membership who are willing to share knowledge and best practice."
The trade association is set partner with PetQuip and Gardenex to host a post-Brexit export conference in March next year.
For more information on current opportunities or export support in general contact BHETA member services on 0121 237 1130 or www.bheta.co.uk/export
