UKTI - Success stories

Cooper Research Technology on the road to success

Derbyshire based company Cooper Research Technology has seen a significant growth in its export markets thanks to the help and support of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).

Based in Ripley, Cooper Research Technology designs and manufactures high performance testing equipment for asphaltic and unbound materials used in highway construction.

They have an impressive overseas client portfolio with around 80 per cent of business coming from the export market, enabling users to test pavement material for mechanical properties such as stiffness modulus, fatigue and permanent deformation.

Established in 1990, Cooper Research Technology was the brain child of the now semi retired Chairman Keith Cooper, who designed the company's first revolutionary piece of testing equipment at the University of Nottingham. Nowadays, the day to day running of the business is the responsibility of eldest son, Andrew Cooper who has taken the business from strength to strength.

Since working with UKTI, Cooper Research Technology has set up a subsidiary business in China after receiving expert help and advice from the Passport to Export Programme at UKTI and won an EEF award in acknowledgment of their achievements.

Pete Grafton, Managing Director at Cooper Research Technology said:

"Entering the Chinese market was totally unfamiliar territory for us.  I don't know what we would have done without the help and support of UKTI. Our International Trade Advisor put us in touch with the right contacts and directed us through the best routes to reach our export market. We are continually looking to further develop our company and I am sure that we will use UKTI in the future."

Gordon Binnie, International Trade Advisor at UKTI East Midlands said:

"I have worked closely with Pete and seen how dedicated he and his team are to the success of their business. The team at Cooper Research Technology are really reaping the fruits of their labour; they fully embraced all help on offer and have maintained their heavily proactive approach."

Any company wishing to increase their export sales should contact the UKTI  International Trade Team either by email or by phone on 0845 052 4001.