On 28th August Sesame Access were pleased to welcome Lord Ian Livingston, Minister for Trade and Investment, to our premises in West Byfleet.
The Minister was spending the day visiting Surrey based companies, looking to grow their export business, as part of a UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) initiative. He spent the afternoon at Sesame Access, together with Lewis Scott and Andrew Mapstone who are representatives from the UKTI and Fiona Jarvis, founder and Managing Director of Blue Badge Style.
Alison Lyons, Sesame Access’s Director of Commercial Development, made a short presentation to the Minister high lighting some of Sesame Access’s success stories and potential overseas sales. Alison also announced that Sesame were on the verge of securing a contract for two lifts in Qatar and the potential of an agreement with an established Scandinavian company to supply Sesame lifts to that part of the world. Alison also suggested that maybe the Houses of Parliament should be a future project for Sesame Access!
Fiona Jarvis also spoke at length with the Minister about the importance of reliable disabled access, something that she feels is still missing from many prominent and important buildings. Lord Livingston was very interested in what Fiona had to say on the subject.
Fiona Jarvis is the Founder and Managing Director of Blue Badge Style (BBS). Sesame has enjoyed a prosperous and active relationship with Fiona, and was pleased she attended the Minister’s visit. Speaking about the visit, she said, “I was pleased to hear that Lord Livingston understood the premise of Blue Badge Style, a website and app that helps less able people maintain their Lifestyle whatever the disability. We discussed that to go out and enjoy life we need unobtrusive yet effective access to venues such as hotels, restaurants etc. Something that Sesame Access achieves in an elegant/stylish manner – A Style Icon that gets top rating from BBS.”
The future is looking ever brighter for Sesame, with fast-increasing interest from abroad. In the words of their Operations Manager, Alex Barlow, “So far the international market loves our product, and we have no shortage of enquiries. Our plan now is to get the company to a point where we can rise to meet demand, and I know that with the expertise that UKTI can bring to the table, we are closer to that goal than we have ever been.”
“The innovation and ambition on display at Sesame Access has been hugely impressive. It is clear is that world class manufacturing and engineering is thriving in the South East and their products are in demand across the globe. Companies like Sesame Access are an inspiration for those who want to grow and boost their international customer base."
Lord Ian Livingston, Minister of State for Trade & Investment
Steven Lyons, Sesame’s Managing Director, was really pleased with the visit: “It was a great experience for both parties to have the Minister visit. Lord Livingston is very principled and dedicated and, quite frankly, a lovely guy. I’m hoping that our link with him through UKTI will help to open doors for us nationally as well as internationally. The Sesame System is an incredibly technically advanced piece of kit and I firmly believe it is a unique product that needs to be available on the international market.”
Sesame hosted the event to showcase the innovation and design that is fed into their products and their ambition to make Sesame Access an internationally recognised brand. Lord Livingston expressed an interest in the lifts whilst Sesame detailed the importance of having such products on the market, reinforcing the ‘Made in Britain’ brand as trusted and reliable worldwide.
Charlie Lyons, inventor of the Sesame system and Founder & Chairman of Sesame Access said, “I was delighted to welcome Lord Livingston to our company. As the inventor of the Sesame system, it gives me great pleasure to have my belief that this product can achieve worldwide success reinforced through the interest displayed by the Minister of Trade & Investment.”
Also present were representatives from UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) including Andrew Mapstone, Sesame’s UKTI Advisor; Lewis Scott, UKTI Regional Director for the South East and two members of the UKTI Press Team. Additionally Fiona Jarvis, Founder and Managing Director of Blue Badge Style and Robert Oliver, International Businessman were in attendance.
UKTI has provided Sesame with solid support through Andrew Mapstone throughout Sesame’s drive for growth and international recognition, in line with UKTI’s dedication to aid Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Britain with all levels of support and economic growth. Similarly, UKTI employs investment and exportation experts locally in countries all over the world to support British exporting businesses and enterprises in achieving a seamless transmission to worldwide markets. Alison Lyons, Sesame’s Commercial Director leading in international sales and exports, summed up the importance of UKTI: “Andrew Mapstone and UKTI have been absolutely pivotal in supporting our international growth. They have provided constant support from every angle from direct funding to cultural standards and even names and numbers of the most reliable and beneficial contacts on the ground all over the world. Their contacts, expert advice and financial support have allowed us to overcome any difficulties we have faced so far and we’re really looking forward to continuing our work with them for the foreseeable future.”
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