Like many other Made in the Midlands members, Tantec-UK deals with Europe on a daily basis. The privately-owned, UK based company are the UK and Ireland agent for Danish Tantec A/S; manufactures of Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment Systems
Tantec has been supplying systems in to the UK for decades, along with agent support in over 30 countries and thousands of systems installed around the globe, Tantec are an international supplier offering a unique insight into the trading issues that cross-border companies face in a time of uncertainty and political stalemate.
In this article, we’ve sat down with Chris Howey and Matt Banthorpe, Managing Director and General Manager of Tantec-UK, to discuss what it’s like to be part of a European-based family during these uncertain times.
The first thing we discussed was how dealing in two currencies; British Pound Sterling and the Euro is impacting the European countries. With that being said, it’s not the first economic downturn that Tantec has faced. As pointed out, the company has its roots back in the 1970s, and they’ve weathered out some difficult times, including recessions in the 1980s, 1990s, and the 2000s.
Asking about the concern that the pound has, and the impact it could have on their company, it may surprise you to hear that currency actually plays very little into the day-to-day life of Tantec-UK.
Asked about what issues it presents, I was told that, “We’re not worried in regard to currency.”
When asked why, despite being based in the UK, Tantec-UK operates in a range of currencies and it was stated that this was done to minimize risk and keep pricing fair. “We work in many currencies and aim to keep a sensible amount in each account to avoid currency fluctuations. We have global pricing for many products, usually in Euros, this means we can avoid frequent price changes”
But that’s not to say that Tantec UK is abandoning the pound, nor at the same time are they pledging sole allegiance to the euro. In their own words, “We try and keep both GBP and Euro accounts healthy, this allows to keep our pricing consistent for our customers – and avoiding costly bank and currency transfer fees”
The choice to work in Euros also comes from the need to be approachable to their customer's needs, who when they are working the thousands, and sometimes hundreds-of-thousands in product costs, find it easier to do the transaction through their Euro accounts. “Normally the companies that we are aiming for with entry-level equipment are priced at around six or seven thousand. But average spend is closer to £30,000, with some systems out there costing upwards of a quarter of a million. So normally when you're talking about those bigger investments, most of the companies we’re dealing with have euro accounts.”
Interestingly, since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the company has only seen one project blamed on Brexit for not happening. The products and services on offer from Tantec are often used to save money and ensure projects can happen, so their purchase is often justified with a payback “In all that time we've only had one person who's come onto us go two-thirds of the way down a project and used Brexit as the excuse. Everything else is okay. A lot of the time they need what we’re making to make the advances and savings they want, couple that with the support we offer, and we are the natural choice for them”
Though beyond the trials and tribulations of Europe, there’s also the issue of China, cheaper markets and further partners outside of Europe.
Tantec-UK’s Chris Howey and Matt Banthorpe believe the UK has some clear advantages over Chinese manufacturing, something that Made in the Midlands members are seeing, as seen in a recent article, Talisman Plastics secure new contract, seeing manufacturing move from China.
“The Chinese market is always assumed to be cheaper. As a buyer, you could get cheaper Chinese made products. Which is fine for certain markets and products, but as a specialist within higher-end markets such as medical, automotive, aerospace and composites, European manufacturers, particularly those in the UK and Ireland show time after time their quality at a sensible price without issues such as lengthy shipping times and complex import/ export rules – here’s hoping Brexit doesn’t cause big problems on that front”
To finish, I asked both Chris and Matt what they think the next 10-years holds for the company, and the approach they’re going to take, and their answer surprised me.
Firstly, their key message was not to become complacent. In their case, they’ve met their yearly sales targets, but that doesn’t mean they can sit back. “While we’ve exceeded our targets this year, it doesn’t mean that you have any time off, it just means that we are in a better position to really grow the business how we want with minimal risk”
But asked about the direction Tantec will take, simply providing a product is only the start and improving technical abilities and support for customers will be key to their prosperity in a post-Brexit environment.
“The next 10 years will see us engaging deeper with our customers from earlier stages in product design, allowing engineers to really get the most from the technology by considering its uses from day one rather than when they come up against a problem along the way – we’re building up the technical side of the business with testing facilities and more colleagues to support every aspect of the company from initial enquiries to testing, installation and servicing”