8:10pm Tuesday 9th February 2010
By Katy Islip
A GLOBAL sports company based in Southend is toasting success after it defied the recession and doubled its earnings in the past year.
Hi-Tec, based in Aviation Way, saw global sales increase by more than ten per cent, to achieve a $250million turnover.
Most of the sales growth has come from the firm’s outdoor range, which in the UK has continued to benefit from families shunning expensive foreign holidays in favour of holidays at home.
Hi-Tec general manager Ed van Wezel feels the recession has actually helped the company, with consumers with less cash to spend focusing on quality instead of brand names.
He said: “A lot of families in the UK have decided not to go abroad and have stayed at home to visit places like Scotland or Cornwall, and they go to their local outdoor store and buy a good value product for all the family.
“We have really benefited from that in the UK, and the same counts all over the world, especially in markets such as the USA and Australia.
“It’s nice to have a global brand out of Southend which is doing well.”
The firm is ranked as the number two outdoor shoe maker in the world, with its products selling in countries including the USA, Australia and China, where the firm has opened 45 shops over the past three years.
As well its success in the consumer market, the firm’s Magnum brand has uniform footwear contracts with the Post Office and Ministry of Defence, and supplies combat footwear for troops stationed in hot countries, including Afghanistan.
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