ON March 26, Vaga member, David Peacock, gave a talk on the topic Exporting is Fun.

For many years David worked in the engineering field of making abrasive products (mainly grinding wheels) largely for the automotive industry, manufacturing the machines to do the grinding, and eventually had his own business in the same field.

He talked of the days when the British Automotive Industry, in particular British Leyland, was in decline due to bad workmanship and management and how he had to find new markets for his company's products.
This took him to communist states where he found doing business was streamlined by only needing to know three or four people in each country, like Poland, and understanding how pricing worked in those countries.

It was also understood that, once the contract was signed, there was no worry about payment to his company, unlike with some non-communist countries.
He told the club of many incidents during his foreign sales tours, many humorous and many as part of a learning curve.
One instance was when he lost a contract in Persia because he had not offered a hefty or perhaps large bribe as part of the contract!

He also spoke of his pleasure when working with business people on the Indian sub-continent.

David's talk kept the club members thoroughly entertained as well as being a very illuminating insight into the world of support networks for major manufacturers.
Vaga Probus meets twice a month in Ross. Visitors are welcome, please call 01989 218295 for details.