A husband and wife team of entrepreneurs have opened up a new export market for us..

Bengt and Mikaela Berghäll have been appointed as Ifor Williams Trailers' distributors in Finland.

The trailer firm already have distribution networks in all the other Scandinavian countries but there was nobody selling their products in Finland - until now.

The Berghälls are based Rejbölevägen which is on the coast, 70 kilometres west of the capital, Helsinki

Both of them have a background in sales and marketing.

Bengt is a representative for John Deere tractors while Mikaela runs a linen import business from the family farm.

As part of the couple's induction programme, they visited the company's factories in Deeside and Denbighshire where the trailers are made.

As well as being sold through a network of 50 UK distributors, the trailers are also exported all over the world with distributors as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

During the visit the Berghälls revealed the idea of setting up the distributorship was born of frustration.

They spotted a gap in the market because they had been unable to buy one of the trailers for themselves.

Mikaela explained: "It actually started because we needed our own trailer. We had been borrowing one for several years and we wanted to buy one.

"We couldn't get hold of one and we realised that Ifor Williams Trailers didn't have a distributor here in Finland.

"They were looking for a distributor and my husband came up with the idea of going for it.

"We wanted to start another business aside from the farm and Bengt was also ready to start up something for himself.

"The quality of the trailers is fantastic and with some trailers from the range there are no competitors in the Finnish market.

"We think there is a great business opportunity, especially for the livestock trailers and horseboxes.

"With the commercial trailers and other trailers in the range there are not many other players in the market.

"Many of the trailers being sold in Finland at the moment are of a poor quality, nothing to compare to Ifor Williams Trailers.

"We are planning to set up a network and we already have some potential sub-distributors. There is a lot enthusiasm.

"We can't really believe this opportunity was open - there was definitely a gap in the market for such a good product."

Following a tour of the factories, Bengt added: "I am very impressed with what I have seen. They are very professional and we now understand why the quality is so high.

"If you have a good product, it will sell - that's for sure.

"We have high hopes for the future, there is a lot of potential. It is very exciting."

Business Operations Manager Richard Szymanski said: "Bengt and Mikaela are an extremely impressive couple.

"They commented very much on the quality that we incorporate into our trailers and see that as an important selling point.

"They believe in the product and that enables you to speak with great confidence when you're talking to prospective purchasers.

"We have distributors in all the other Scandinavian countries - so this is the final piece in the jigsaw.

"Our new Danish distributor started two yeas ago and sales are really good, they have increased incredibly and this could be the start of something really good in Finland."

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News » Starting with the Finnish