'Don't forget Britain for investment'

Geoff Hender, CEO of WindFlow Technology, says his company is looking to set up a British operation next year. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Britain's High Commissioner to New Zealand says the United Kingdom should not be forgotten as a investment destination while the might of emerging economic giants such as China and India consume the world's focus.

Vicki Treadell, who took up her Wellington post in late 2009 following several years as Deputy Commissioner to Mumbai, says the historical relationship this country has with Britain gives Kiwi businesses a unique advantage there.

"We're all looking to Asia but we shouldn't forget these old relationships are there for a reason," she said. "Put history and empire behind and there is a modern proposition."

Treadell said Britain remained the world's sixth largest economy.

"Not a lot of people know this but it is still the sixth largest manufacturing country in the world," she said.

Treadell said the British market was of a manageable scale for New Zealand firms, especially when compared with China or India. It could also provide a stepping stone to other European markets, she said.

"Growing internationally through the combination of having a headquarters in New Zealand and platform in the UK means businesses are on pretty good ground to go global if that's what they want."

Two local businesses wanting to enter the British market in the coming months are wind turbine manufacturer Windflow Technology and sports analysis software developer Verusco Technologies. Both companies were winners in the UK Market Entry competition, run by UK Trade & Investment, a department of the British government that assists overseas firms when investing in Britain.

The prize includes return flights to Britain and introductions to potential clients and guidance on the company and tax structures in that country.

Greg Johnstone, marketing manager for Palmerston North-based Verusco, said the company required a presence in Britain to sell its products to the Northern Hemisphere rugby unions.

Johnstone said the firm's rugby analysis software was used in the Southern Hemisphere by the New Zealand and Australian rugby unions and four of the five South African Super 15 teams. Verusco also had its sights set on supplying its technology to Premier League football teams in Britain, he said.

Windflow chief executive Geoff Henderson said the Christchurch-based company was looking to set up a UK operation next year. It has appointed Ventus Green Energy as exclusive distributor of its turbines in Britain, where policies have changed to encourage sustainable energy generation, including incentives to turbine purchasers.

With the policy changes in mind, Henderson said the turbine market in Britain was potentially worth "hundreds of millions" to Windflow.

The company has had to go back to its shareholders, with a $5 million capital-raising under way to fund its expansion into the UK market and shore up its balance sheet.

Windflow had already received 370 expressions of interest from Scottish farmers interested in its products, and 17 turbines were in the planning process in Britain, Henderson said.

The company has so far sold 97 of its turbines in New Zealand for the Te Rere Hau wind farm in Manawatu.