How strategic exporting propelled Innerva’s growth

By implementing exporting as a strategic growth tool, Innerva has seen a 30% increase in turnover

Innerva, a West Yorkshire-based manufacturer specialising in power-assisted exercise equipment, has experienced significant growth in recent years thanks to its reinvigorated export strategy. Leading this export transformation is David Heathcote, Head of Business Development.

David’s focus on strategic exporting and team-building has not only diversified the company’s revenue streams but also doubled its turnover since the pandemic. Here’s how he reimagined exporting and what you can learn from his approach.

Building a strong business foundation

David joined Innerva in December 2018 after spending six years consulting for the company through an external agency. His first priority was to create a more robust approach to business development. ‘As a consultant, I had advised Innerva to build up a business development function, believing it would help Innerva to grow exponentially. I mapped out many of their structures and processes,’ he explains. ‘I just didn’t think it would be me they asked to do the job at the end of the contract.’

Initially, David’s priority was to expand Innerva’s presence in the UK leisure market, focusing on council-run leisure centres, which form a large part of their domestic business. However, with the onset of Covid-19 in 2020, David was tasked with a more challenging goal: managing and growing the company’s exports.

From reactive to strategic exporting

Although Innerva had some export relationships prior to David’s arrival, the process was informal and reactive, depending largely on ad hoc orders from international distributors. ‘We were trusted, I was trusted,’ says David. ‘So it was just about fulfilling orders as they came in.’ However, this approach made it difficult to project revenue or plan strategically. ‘We didn’t always know what or when orders would come in, which made managing capacity and workload almost impossible,’ he adds.

David’s mission was to professionalise the export process without disrupting Innerva’s relationships with its existing distributors. While the transition was challenging at first, with some distributors unsure about Innerva’s new demands for sales targets and projections, it ultimately helped both sides. ‘Initially, some distributors wondered who this guy was asking for all this information,’ David recalls. ‘But once we explained the benefits to the customers and the distributors of increased transparency then everybody got on board.’

Support from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT)

David’s efforts were bolstered by support from the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) Export Academy, which provided mentorship and strategic guidance. ‘The Export Academy helped us communicate more effectively with distributors about why having structured targets and forecasts was so important,’ says David. ‘It’s all about managing customer expectations and delivering on time, rather than working reactively.’

As a result, Innerva began formalising its relationships with distributors in countries like Austria, Norway, and Belgium, setting clear sales targets and improving its ability to forecast revenue. This proactive approach helped the company expand beyond its existing markets.

Expanding into new markets

In addition to streamlining relationships with existing distributors, David was tasked with finding new ones, expanding Innerva’s footprint in unexpected places like Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and China. ‘We used to focus primarily on Europe,’ David explains, ‘but we’ve now grown our network into regions we hadn’t previously considered.’

This shift was largely thanks to partnerships with British embassies and trade missions led by DBT. One such mission to Hong Kong, organised by Santander, resulted in interest from five new distributors covering both Hong Kong and mainland China.

Strategic marketing and distributor relationships

One of the keys to Innerva’s export success has been its approach to marketing. ‘Our marketing strategy has helped us attract distributors from across the globe. We don’t just sell our product, we sell why our product is important,’ says David. But it wasn’t only about a change in messaging.

David and his team, with the help of academic partners like Paul Smith from Manchester Metropolitan University, also refined their distributor selection process. Rather than choosing countries to target, they began focusing on identifying the ideal business partners who could help them grow. ‘This approach helped us identify distributors in markets we hadn’t previously considered, such as Saudi Arabia,’ he adds.

Building a cohesive commercial team

Recognising the need to build Innerva’s capacity for long-term strategic planning, David advocated for the creation of a dedicated, in-house commercial team.

With help from the university to secure funding from the local council, Innerva recruited a Commercial Director,  as well as  new marketing, communications, and sales roles. ‘I had to convince the founding Managing Director that investing in a strong business development and marketing team was essential to our growth,’ says David.

This new team has allowed David to take a step back from the day-to-day running of business development and exporting and think more about the long-term strategy  It has also enabled Innerva to move from a reactive approach to marketing, responding to day-to-day needs, to a clear long-term vision.

A new digital direction

In 2022, David enrolled in the Help to Grow: Management Course at the University of Huddersfield, seeing it as an opportunity to develop his skills and learn new strategies for business growth. ‘The course gave me practical tools that I could immediately implement,’ he says. One key takeaway was from the module on Digital Adoption, which led Innerva to carry out an IT strategy review and create a clear roadmap. ‘We now review our IT strategy every six months to see where we are on our journey and where we need to invest more time and resources. This may seem like a small change but it has boosted our productivity and made us scarily efficient,’ explains David.

Exporting for long-term growth

Innerva’s turnover has doubled since the pandemic, reaching £2 million in 2023. In the 2 years since David took on the role of managing exports, Innerva has seen a 30% increase in business, with exports accounting for 50% of that growth. David expects this to only continue to rise in the coming years.

David’s journey from reactive to strategic exporting highlights the importance of diversification and long-term planning. ‘Exporting has helped professionalise our business,’ he says. ‘We’ve not only expanded our network of distributors but created a more structured, predictable way of operating.’

Key lessons for other businesses:

Strategic planning is crucial – moving from a reactive to a structured exporting model allowed Innerva to forecast and manage capacity effectively.

Utilise export support – resources like the DBT Export Academy can provide invaluable mentorship and market insights.

Expand beyond your comfort zone – by exploring markets outside Europe, Innerva significantly broadened its reach and revenue streams.

Build a strong team – investing in a dedicated commercial team was vital for Innerva’s sustained growth.

Exporting professionalises operations – exporting demands more formal processes, which ultimately helps businesses streamline and scale.

David’s story demonstrates the power of exporting as a strategic growth tool and serves as an inspiration for other businesses looking to diversify and expand into international markets.

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