12:28pm Wednesday 17th March 2010
A BUSINESSMAN’S passion for classic cars turned into a thriving Aston Martin business that is now looking to break into the Italian market.
The Aston Workshop in Beamish, near Stanley, County Durham yesterday hosted a visit by the British Ambassador in Rome, Edward Chaplin.
The company, which specialises in the restoration of classic Aston Martins, will be taking cars to the British Embassy, in Rome, this summer to promote them to the Italian market.
The company was started after founder Bob Fountain turned his passion for classic cars into a thriving business, which now employs 30 people.
Ambassador Chaplin said: “It is a high-quality product, iconically British that would really appeal to Italians, who are crazy about cars and I think it will excite quite a lot of interest.”
He also believed the Aston Workshop was an example of a good business going out and finding new customers abroad.
The ambassador said: “I think Italy has always been a pretty important market for the UK – there is £30bn of trade between the two.
“I think what it particularly shows that in a time of recession you need to work harder and think more about where your customers might be.”
Managing director Clive Dickinson said that customers were already coming from abroad to buy the cars, with three sold by the workshop last week.
He said: “We have been dealing with people internationally for quite a few years, shipping cars all over the world.
“We try to have a strong presence on the internet and we get a dozen inquiries each day from outside the UK.
“We also get people flying in from all over the world.”
The visit was organised by UK Trade & Investment which works to develop export opportunities for North-East firms.
Further details at uktradeinvest.
gov.uk
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