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The winter afternoon is darkening and it is getting wetter outside. From one of the windows of Britcom International's new £4m, 14 acre head office in Market Weighton, Yorkshire, MT can see raindrops cascading down the bonnets of some of the 315 tractor units and plant machinery that sit stoically in the yard. These vehicles are set for sunnier climes. Ten vehicles every night will leave the Yorkshire borders and travel around the world to countries including Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania  and Trinidad.

Britcom has been exporting second-hand trucks since 1981. "When I came here then there were only three employees," explains sales director Paul Mercer. "We didn't do much travelling then. You did what you could financially but we initially targeted the Singapore market, which developed into Malaysia and expanded from there. We look at emerging markets, where there are opportunities to sell vehicles."

Part of this development included the opening of a dealership in Nairobi, Kenya in 2001. Britcom was approached by Renault Trucks which was "looking to increase its market share. It was not an established export product. It wanted an outlet for its second-hand vehicles. We felt there was an opportunity in East Africa. One of our customers told us that if we supported the Renault product then they would buy it".

Britcom has an 85% shareholding in the dealership. It has sold 200 second-hand units there since 2001. "This was a big step for us and we support  the product as much as we possibly can, providing customer back-up," adds Mercer. Britcom had a turnover of £20m in its last financial results, of which £2.5m came from the Kenyan operation. In total Britcom has sold 1,500 units this year worldwide (including tippers and handling equipment as well as trucks mainly to Africa), up on last year's 1,200 units.

"At the beginning our African customers wanted older technology, between eight and 12-years-old, such as Bedfords and Leylands," states Mercer. "But it has evolved. Now they want low mileage vehicles between four and six-years-old and are asking questions about fuel consumption." Traditionally, Mercer explains, Africa has been a strong Mercedes-Benz market. "MB is regarded as a premium product but people are beginning to consider other vehicles. With the Renault product we were influential in changing this. Younger vehicles bring their own problems. If we break down in the UK there are four or five dealers who can come out to us with parts. Support and back up has to keep pace in these countries as well. Help must be a phone call away."

The dealership, which has a Kenyan managing director and European general and after-sales managers, therefore now boasts a commercial vehicle workshop. There are 20 employees on the workshop floor and eight in the parts department - all Kenyan. It has its own diagnostica and engineering/driver training schemes. "That's big," Mercer states. "AIDS has led to a massive turnaround in drivers. There are very few left now with any experience. The offer of a trained driver becomes part of the package."

Mercer leans back. "The world has become a much smaller place. Twenty years ago we used Kodak Instamatic cameras to show photos to customers. It took five days! Now if a customer doesn't get a photo within five minutes they are on the phone! We are trying to bring a first world operation into a third world environment and people appreciate that. Someone once made a statement that we traded on peoples' ignorance and to a certain extent we did. But not now. We are talking to highly qualified people."

"I don't want to sound blasé," he adds, warming to his theme. "But we don't have any competition. The Kenyan customer is just as important to us as the customer down the road. That is not the normal industry attitude. Africa is seen as a bit of a dumping ground." The company is set to open a dealership in Trinidad early next year. "The Caribbean is a particularly good market. Trinidad is one big industrial estate," Mercer remarks. "We are also looking for representation in China for cranes and handling equipment that we can fix to vehicles here."

Britcom is also planning to market and sell second-hand vehicles to UK customers. "Talking of the UK," says Mercer, looking around the boardroom. "Part of the reason for the move here in July was to develop our after-sales service. There are opportunities in the domestic market that we want to follow."

Mercer explains that these services, including body-building, trailer conversions, shot blasting and paint shops are not new to Britcom. It moved into this in 1992 when it bought local engineering company W&A Chassis Developments. "At that time 6x2 tractor units weren't popular here apart from the heavy haulage sector. In a developing country the vehicles also had a problem with the infrastructure. So we decided to do conversions to our own specifications and this developed into chassis conversions for export clients."

MT is joined by operations manager Brent Carmichael, who started his career on the workshop floor at W&A. "If it wasn't for after-sales we probably wouldn't have moved to the new site," he says. "Now my job is to sell our services and to look at areas such as vehicle type approval." Britcom has specialised in one-off conversions. Carmichael states that it is a niche market carrying out a design from start to finish, but that the company now needs to do "more runs. We have not always made the money on conversions that we'd like to".

Britcom has just signed a deal for a run of "27 bodies with an independent truck dealer which we had to be competitive to get. But we can still do the one-offs". On a tour round the new workshops, Carmichael talks more about the new location. "We always used to have to pay more than anyone else to get people because of the lack of services at our previous workshops. There we had to have our guys working outside at times. There was no room to expand. But this is a palace."

He is hoping to add two more skilled engineers and bodyshop workers to the existing 33 workshop staff. Mercer states the aim is to increase the present £1.2m turnover for after-sales by about 50%. "That is achievable. We are already looking to put in another bodyshop because the present one isn't big enough to cope with demand. We used to have the spray booths in an Anderson type shelter doing mainly in-house work. Now it's much more commercial, we want hauliers as our customers."

Britcom has appointed a business development manager to help with the marketing of the services. "We are knocking on people's doors letting them know what we do and stating that as an independent we have a focus and are not controlled by Germany or France. We want manufacturers to accept us as one of the big players."

However, one cloud on the horizon is vehicle type approval. "Manufacturers tell us that we can't do certain conversions to their vehicles. But what do you do with a two-axle tractor unit at the end of its first life? Who wants one of those in this country?

We can stretch it, put a new body on it. Then somebody out there has a vehicle that they want. But the manufacturers tell us that their badge is still on it and we have a litigious climate in this country."

But optimism at Britcom is still the prevalent mood. Future export aims include Eastern Europe, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "Sudan is out of this world. Some of the money that will start going in there is going to be huge," says Mercer who is getting his passport ready.

"The best way to find out about a new market is just to buy an air fare, go over there and knock on some doors."

Mercer on...

Africa

"Everyone wants to be in Africa. The infrastructure is getting better and there is more investment especially from the Chinese. The rail network is non-existent so people are putting the money into the roads. Do I have a problem exporting to Zimbabwe given the political situation there? Where do you draw the line ethically? Many UK companies export there."

On converting right-hand drive trucks to left-hand

"Very straightforward with MB, ERF and MAN. But we do have a problem with Volvos!"

On his multi-lingual staff

"We've got a Spanish-speaking Geordie and people who can speak Chinese, Portuguese, German and French."