About the Department for International Trade and the Export Champion programme

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a UK government division that helps secure national and international prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade and growth in new markets.

‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ is DIT’s export promotion campaign. It supports the department’s ambition to inspire and encourage more UK SMEs to export for the first time or expand their existing international sales. The campaign aims to help British companies realise their export potential, ensuring they are aware of the benefits of selling overseas and the wide range of export support that DIT offers. In order to promote and encourage other business export, DIT announced the latest set of ‘Export Champions’, who as ambassadors and successful exporters within the UK are dedicated to helping more British businesses start selling internationally. For TecQuipment that Export Champion is Bruno Ferreira.

Bruno Ferreira’s journey in export

The export journey for Bruno started with a bachelor’s degree in International Trade in 2010. Following his studies, he acquired professional experience in several industries (translation, renewables, biotechnology and education) where he was exposed to multicultural environments and working with different overseas markets.

Bruno is currently one of TecQuipment’s Export Sales Managers overseeing the markets of Latin America, Europe and Asia. His job is a key element to meet the business objectives of growing the sales revenue from international customers. TecQuipment typically exports to 70-80 different countries each year.

For over 8 years Bruno has benefitted from different services and support offered by the Department of International Trade (formerly UKTI) in several different markets (here are a few examples: Chile, Peru, Spain, Germany, Jordan, Cambodia and Myanmar).

He would like to emphasize the great support from the East Midlands International Trade Adviser Mandy Rait which has been outstanding and has contributed to TecQuipment’s success. Bruno has been working with Mandy for several years, in multiple companies, and Mandy has always been supportive and resourceful.

For TecQuipment this support has enabled Bruno to become a great company representative and top seller overseas which has enabled us as a company to expand and continually develop and grow.

TecQuipment’s journey in exporting

TecQuipment are a leading manufacturer of educational equipment for engineering programs, supplying top-tier institutions around the world. The products allow students and educators to perform practical experiments to illustrate engineering principles relating to aerodynamics, control engineering, hydraulics and fluid mechanics, material testing and properties, structures, alternative energies, mechanics and dynamics, thermodynamics along with electrical power systems.

Established in 1958, TecQuipment began exporting in the 1960s on a small, limited scale, beginning with an order to the University of Notre Dame. Over the subsequent three decades, the company gradually grew its international sales through identifying growth markets and recruiting an agent network to effectively penetrate these. Over the years the Middle East and ‘Asian Tiger’ countries, in particular, have been very fruitful markets, and continue to thrive along with the likes of North America and Europe. In addition, the last two decades have seen further expansion by consolidating the company’s position in these markets, and by actively servicing the next phase of emerging economies. Due to this market penetration and market growth over 80% of TecQuipment business comes from export.

TecQuipment is poised for continuous and sustainable growth, and now offers over 450 different products ranging from Engineering Science Kits to state-of-the-art Supersonic Wind Tunnels used by students and educators in over 1500 educational establishments across more than 100 countries.

In 2021, the company became Employee-Owned in a move that secured the longevity of the business and empowered employees to continue the company’s legacy. TecQuipment’s vision is to provide the world’s most engaging and effective practical teaching solutions for engineering and to be a role model for employee-owned manufacturing businesses.

Our thanks go to Bruno and the rest of the sales team for propelling TecQuipment’s success along with everyone who works for the company, your effort, hard work, and support are what make this company great and keep us moving towards the future and forefront of engineering education!

Read more about us as an Employee-Owned company

Find out more about TecQuipment

For free export support from the UK Government, visit great.gov.uk