ILMINSTER based heating and ventilation manufacturer Powrmatic, have been recognised by the Regional Language Network South West (RLN SW) as industry champions of good practice in using languages and cultural understanding to improve business performance.

The firm exports to China, Japan and Dubai as well as numerous markets within Europe.

However, communication with countries such as Russia, France, Germany and the Czech Republic posed a problem.

With the help of the RLN SW the company has taken a proactive approach to developing export sales using language and cultural understanding.

Literature and brochures have been translated into Mandarin and Russian and plans are in hand to do the same with various European languages.

Kieron Borgeat, Commercial Manager for powrmatic, said: "We took on board advice about the value of basic "Meet and Greet" language for our attendance at a major trade fair in Bulgaria at the beginning of 2007.

"This created an excellent impression and the Bulgarians were blown away at the lengths we had gone to. Being able to speak a few phrases and having our literature translated with spot on accuracy certainly opened doors for us."