The result of the past year on many businesses has been a varied and often turbulent one.

Like Many businesses, North Wales based manikin manufacturer Ruth Lee shut down in the initial few weeks of covid, as the main priority for the business was the welfare and protection of their staff. However, the pandemic acted as a catalyst for increased demand from the business as sectors such as healthcare in particular increased demand, not just across Wales, but across the world.

Ruth Lee exports up to 75 % of their business and are present in countries such as the US, South America, Europe, Australasia and the Middle East and sell into more than 50 countries through a network of 40 distributors. They are in every sense a truly global business supplier, with other geographies already in the pipeline.

Paul McDonnell, Managing Director of Ruth Lee, spoke to Business News Wales about the increased opportunity bought about by the pandemic, not just in terms of geographical reach, but sector reach too, as they continue to expand into areas such as emergency services, armed forces, lifeguards, maritime and health and social care.

McDonnell describes their success as being a result of quality communications with their distributors across the globe, and they have already implemented new marketing strategies and personnel to continue this level of service that has already gained them industry recognition and awards.

The belief that Paul has for Wales to become a leader in export is encouraging, and he advises that confidence is half the battle for many welsh businesses to take the leap into export. With initiatives from the government being backed by Ken Skates such as The Export Action Plan, there is increased support available for those looking at exporting from Wales.

Listen below for further insights on how Wales can become a major player in the export world, and how Ruth Lee has gone from strength to strength and is continuing to innovate as a global supplier in their sector.