Northumberland companies demonstrate how to ‘tackle’ the export market

Or, in the case of Alnwick-based Pure Fishing and Eclipse Translations, it is just the other side of the A1!

Both have formed a strong working relationship based on their respective success in international markets.

Pure Fishing, which acquired Hardy & Greys, and its subsidiary Hardy Advanced Composites in 2013, has 12 brands that operate worldwide providing specialist fishing tackle and gear. The latter business, which was known as House of Hardy, has its origins in the 1870s when it started as a gunsmith before moving into fishing.

Demand for product across the breadth of its brand portfolio is continuous and growing. Alongside this the company has a rapid product development programme, which means that customers need to be made regularly aware of new launches and enhancements to existing products.

Al Cross, European marketing manager for Pure Fishing, said: “We need to communicate fresh updates on a regular basis with the primary languages being French, Spanish, German and Dutch, although we also occasionally use Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech and Slovak.

“The process has the potential to be complicated as we need to use a lot of technical terms and there are also a large number of different versions of a product. For example, in our Greys brand alone there are rods that cover fly, Carp, Coarse, Predator and Sea. When you then factor in product length, weight and style, there is a tremendous amount of detail that needs to be accurately translated. It is crucial that it is correct as it is on the basis of this information that customers make purchasing decisions.

“While we stretch out across the world, we are very much aware of our roots here in Northumberland and that as both a company and as people we are very much part of the community. Where possible, we always look to engage with local businesses and that is why we are so pleased to have developed a relationship with Eclipse Translations. It is another company that is deeply embedded in the region and is passionate about North East business.”

Eclipse provides translation services that cover all of Pure Fishing’s primary marketing channels including websites, catalogues, manuals and product specification sheets. To ensure accuracy of content, Pure Fishing has a dedicated team at Alnwick that is solely responsible for content updates and these are forwarded to Eclipse by file, in English, for translation.

Eclipse, which last year celebrated its 20th anniversary, employs over 30 staff and supports an extensive network of language specialists based around the world. It is also part of one of the top 10 languages providers in the world, RWS Group.

The company offers dedicated support in over 50 languages, with its key services being translation, interpreting, localisation, subtitling and voiceovers. Sectors it operates in include chemicals, FMCG, pharmaceuticals, legal, financial services, defence, manufacturing, government and energy.

Sarah Cross, contracts manager at Eclipse Translations, said: “Similar to Pure Fishing, we have a very strong focus on export markets but at the same time have a large number of clients based here in the North East of England. We believe that mix is very important to us as it makes us both very connected to, and an integral part of, the regional business scene.

“We enjoy a great relationship with the team at Pure Fishing and have developed a very structured approach to the work that we do for the business which helps ensure that activity flows as smoothly as possible and to the highest quality.

“The benefit of building a long term relationship is that we can develop interesting tactics that assist the process. For instance, on behalf of Pure Fishing we have built up a glossary of technical terms that are used across the different brands that we are able to call upon and share with our client as required. The level of time saving that this allows is considerable and means the client can get-to-market at as short a space of time as possible.”