Home / Success stories / Buttercup Knitwear
Project part-financed by the European Union
North Rigton-based Buttercup Knitwear has the US and European
markets stitched up after exhibiting at Showcase Ireland, a craft and
design trade fair in Dublin.
Diana Birtwistle, co-founder of Buttercup, travelled to the four day show with the help of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), and came back with orders for their knitted clothing and accessory range from buyers in the US, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, France and the Netherlands, plus some strong interest from Canada and Sweden.
Also on the trip with UKTI were knitwear designers Makepiece of Todmorden, jeweller Lynne Glazzard from Glaisdale and home giftware producer Carol Cummins of Malton, some of which were new to exporting, and all of which received orders for their products.
UK Trade & Investment Sector Specialist Lorraine Ellison who arranged the trip says: "With the support of myself and UK Trade & Investment, these companies have had the opportunity not only to sample Ireland as a first market but also meet with buyers from Europe and the USA. This has resulted in orders from retailers across the world showing that there is great potential for the companies to further develop their businesses in international markets."
Diana Birtwistle of Buttercup said: "This was our first venture abroad, and Dublin was a great starting place. We had not been able to get into Showcase previously, so when Lorraine suggested the trip I jumped at it and it's been every bit as successful as I hoped it would be. We've been wanting more and more to go into overseas markets so the opportunity to work with UKTI has been fabulous and am hoping it will take us onto a different level."
Showcase was home to 600 fashion, jewellery, gift, Celtic, home and tabletop designers and producers from around Europe, plus more than 9,000 visitors including buyers from 30 countries.
