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A small specialist engineering company in the UK has won £6.7mn of business to supply copper tube manufacturing equipment to Mexico with the backing of UK export credit agency ECGD.

MRB Schumag Ltd, based in Crook, County Durham, has won two separate contracts, worth £2.3mn and £4.1mn each. They are among the largest contracts won by the company. The British exporter will be paid by Mexico’s Industrias Unidas with two bank loans from the London branch of Société Gén érale which have been guaranteed by ECGD.

MRB Schumag is a high precision engineering company with 30 employees. It sells, designs and project manages contracts for the supply of capital equipment for drawing copper tube.

The deal will also benefit other small companies in the region. MRB Schumag relies on a network of SMEs to provide the bulk of its manufacturing. It has 40 suppliers in the area, and a quarter of these rely on MRB as their main customer.

Paul Storey, MRB Schumag’s managing director, says: “The demand from Industrias Unidas in this situation was such that extended terms of financing was a critical point in winning the business. This would not have happened without the support of ECGD and Société Gén érale.”

Michael Jasper, associate director, export finance, at Société Gén érale, adds: “The very positive and user-friendly stance taken by ECGD was a good example of how they can support SMEs. It was also a vital ingredient in enabling us to meet the financing requirements and deadlines of both the supplier and the buyer.”

So far this financial year, ECGD has supported five companies and underwritten £85mn-worth of investments in and exports to Mexico in the process plant and power sectors.