Doll Haircare: Export sales with help from UKTI

Find out how Yorkshire company Doll Haircare have used UK Trade & Investment Services to develop their export sales.

Doll Hair Care Ltd working with UKTI Yorkshire, help to develop their brand in North America.

The TwiddleSticTM is an exclusive product from Doll Hair Care Ltd. Using carbon technology, the TwiddleSticTM is a revolutionary way to create long lasting curls without the need for additional products and without damaging hair. It is one of a range of new products designed by Managing Director Gary Sunderland and his son Oliver and sold through the Leeds-based company Doll Hair Care Ltd.

UKTI services have helped Gary in a number of ways to get established in America. He first signed up to UKTI’s Passport to Export Programme as Carbonite Pro Ltd, the company which developed the product. Through this programme Gary has had support in establishing valuable key contacts through Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) and direct support in America through the British Embassy.

Gary attended and exhibited at a Premier Hair Event in Orlando in June 2011, where UKTI provided PR and marketing support. Over 60,000 people visited this exhibition and it was here that Gary was first introduced to distributor First Lady Products through a friend who attended the exhibition. A further event in Las Vegas in July resulted in an order for 95,000 units of the TwiddlesticTM when Gary first met the distributor at First Lady Products.

DollTM is trying to make use of all expertise available as the business continues to grow. Of course, Gary points out, it’s not a free service, “but the money you pay is small in comparison to the value it brings. I could say UKTI has been fantastic. But Steve Haynes my International Trade Advisor has been absolutely unbelievable”.

Doll Hair Care Ltd also won Yorkshire and the Humber's Exporting for Growth Prize in 2012

Contacts

If you are based in the Yorkshire and Humber region and are interested in developing your business overseas please contact:

UKTI Yorkshire

Tel: 0300 365 1000

Email info@uktiyorkshire.co.uk