Go Back

FSC Global, based in London Colney in Hertfordshire, are world-wide suppliers of electrical cable and wire.Apart from their own FSCG brand, FSC stock a wide range of cable which can be delivered at short notice to any destination in the world!Where special cable brands are specified in tenders and applications, FSC can source the cable from anywhere around the globe or if necessary make it to measure.This is particularly important for the oil and gas sector where highly specialised cables are often required at short notice and have to be sent out by special courier to remote destinations.Gavin Clements, the company’s director explains: ”It is not uncommon for us to have to deal with emergency situations.For instance, we recently had a very urgent cable order for a North Sea oil platform.We had to ship the cable by courier to Rotterdam where a helicopter was on stand-by for onward delivery to the oil platform.Our success is built on the trust of our clients who are safe in the knowledge that we provide a reliable service. The financial implications can be enormous if things have to grind to a hold because the delivery of a cable is delayed”.

Dealing with customers world-wide, the company gives great importance to international communications and to being able to speak with their clients in their own language.The company is lucky to possess some language skills.“We currently have capability in French, Russian and Czech. It seems like we use most of them on a daily basis now, but mostly Russian and English”, says Gavin.He goes on to explain, “It depends where you are trading geographically.Most of Africa like to practise their English so although I can speak a very small amount of Swahili, mostly our customers in Kenya prefer to use English.The Middle East is also using English as a common language because there are so many different nationalities working together.”

However, things are not that straight forward in the Kazakhstan and the CIS.FSC Global participated last year in a trip to Kazakhstan organised by UKTI, with the aim to establish the market potential at the Kazakhstan International Oil & Gas Exhibition (KIOGE).When asked whether he had encountered any communication problems on his visit to Kazakhstan, Gavin was quick to reply, “Huge problems! Less people used English than we hoped for, but the trip for us was always was about learning.We had a local translator from the Technical University who was fantastic.We are still in contact now”.The translator had been sourced through the EIC London, the UK Trade Association for companies supplying the energy industry and the Kazakhstan Oil & Gas Industry Group (KOGIG) of which FSC Global is also a member.– Of course, the local UKTI trade team in the UK embassy would have also been willing to help with finding a translator, but this is an example of how supportive industry groups and organisations can be.

“The opportunities in Kazakhstan and CIS turned out to be enormous, but we could not really exploit them without finding a solution to the language problem”, adds Gavin.The company therefore decided to employ a Russian speaker through their local employment agency.“It was an unusual brief that we gave to our local employment agency, but they took the challenge and did a great job.Being able to converse in the local language is a must for Kazakhstan.It will open more doors for us to companies that we previously could not talk to.”

Gavin and his team are also keen to learn Russian and are discussing with their RLN adviser participating in the Train to Gain programme which will provide them with 50% funded language training at their premises.For Gavin it goes without saying that he and his team should learn the language and familiarise themselves with the cultural issues if they wish to be successful in their new market. “We want to trade in the CIS, so it is only natural that we learn the language!It is also very important to understand the culture in order not to offend, and in order to be able to interpret the people, situation and body language correctly.As most communication is non-verbal, it is very easy to miss the point!” Gavin says. RLN East will be holding a seminar on Russian business culture to which Gavin and his colleagues have been invited.

Making use of their new contacts, the company also had some of its brochures translated into Russian and Bulgarian. Their RLN East adviser had provided them with contact details of reliable translation providers, but in the end the translations were done by the translator whom they had remained in contact with in Kazakhstan and by their new Russian speaking employee.The next step will be to redesign the company’s website which will have an English, Russian and French version.

It is very clear that a large part of the company’s ongoing success is due to its open-mindedness towards other languages and cultures.“Working in export brings with it quite a lot of travel overseas.We have an unwritten law that you must always eat the local food which can get interesting sometimes.Cold ducks’ feet were not really my favourite, but it is amazing how good some unusual parts of the anatomy can taste”, Gavin concludes.

With such a healthy taste for adventure, the company’s success in its new markets seems almost guaranteed!

www.fscglobal.com