Made in the UK Mondays: Autoflame Engineering

How a family business became a global industry leader in combustion management.

Global safety is the name of the game for family-owned London-based Autoflame Engineering Limited . In fact, the business has been exporting sophisticated combustion management systems around the world for four decades, with more than 10,000 systems operating globally.?

The firm now has partnerships with more than 120 technology centres around the world – including many of the leading burner and boiler original equipment manufacturers in the commercial and industrial sectors. It also has an impressive 46 patents to its name.?

Autoflame's products are created via software and hardware development and in-house research and development engineering, both are now considered to be standard equipment in some of the world’s most prestigious organisations. Its technology is being used to benefit Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals and support global paints and coatings company, AkzoNobel, to achieve greater energy efficiency, as well as maintaining the efficiency of Arla Foods' manufacturing process.??

Autoflame’s products empower its customers to reduce their fuel and maintenance costs, substantially lowering emissions, while remaining compliant with environmental regulations. In turn, customers increase the reliability and product lifespan in their plant rooms.?

Adding to its impressive list of achievements, Autoflame was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category in 2022 for its Exhaust Gas Analyser.?

Last week, Autoflame Engineering was also announced as the winner of the ‘Infrastructure and Engineering’ category in our Made in the UK, Sold to the World Awards 2024, which celebrates the exporting success of businesses across the UK.?

We spoke to Directors Nick and Steve Kemp about the advantages of exporting:??

1. How has selling overseas helped your business grow? ? ?

Reaching new territories has helped us increase our overall sales. In 2023 we saw a 13% increase in export sales overall vs 2022, and we’re predicted another increase this year. We’ve also extended our reach to 5 additional, previously untapped territories – increasing our global representation to 104 countries.??

We’ve achieved this expansion by strengthening our partnerships locally, an increased physical presence and investment in the country/continent, hiring an additional multilingual expert, as well as using support from the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT’s) services.???

Our North American market grew by 2.4% between 2022 to 2023 due to our newly introduced Autoflame Flame Safeguard – a product specifically developed for this market based on customer feedback from this region.??

The increase in revenue enabled us to double the space for manufacturing bespoke panels to 1000sqm, as well as substantially increase our warehouse capacity. In addition, we have purchased the land surrounding our factory in 2023, as part of our long- term growth strategy, while also maintaining financial independence.?

2. Have you experienced any challenges in exporting and how have you overcome those issues??

Through our US and Latin American partner networks, we heard about supply issues with competitors' Flame Safeguards, which caused major project delays for our partners (a Flame Safeguard is a safety device and a legal requirement for every burner).??

We discussed the issue with our in-house R&D department. Within days, the team had developed the Autoflame Flame Safeguard, and it was ready to be shipped. This feedback allowed us to access a new market segment, while introducing the Flame Safeguard also provided a solution for a stock issue in our warehouse. We have received over 300 system orders since April 2023.??

Some markets have proven difficult to enter due to various restrictions, but we’ve combated this by building relationships with major and reputable companies, first virtually then in person and we’ve found it has been key to gaining traction.?

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3. What role does exporting play within the context of your sector? ??

It is a niche market and the potential for significant growth lies in export. However, successful expansion requires substantial investment and knowledge of local markets and regulations.??

Our technology centre network gives us product feedback and keeps us informed of local requirements, so we’re able to action their feedback as continuous product development.??

For example, our products require the relevant approvals to be exported and sold in different markets and we need our products to be compliant with local environmental regulations.?

We must consider a degree of flexibility throughout regions to enable global applicability for our exports and we’re confident in delivering compliant, safe and efficient products no matter the local conditions, whether it be the African desert, Brazil’s rainforest or Canada’s Arctic Tundra.

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4. What support have you received from working with DBT??

DBT has helped us connect to local partners to help enter markets that we found hard to access – most recently, Argentina and Japan.????

5. What’s next for Autoflame Engineering???

Our sales pipeline forecasts 13% growth for 2024 with a release of our new product, the Mini MK9, a next generation micro-modulating controller.??

In addition, we will be expanding our Technology Centre network and Original Equipment Manufacturer partners with a focus on India, Latin America, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.??

One of the reasons for the significant growth in Argentina and across Latin America is due to a high physical presence by the Spanish speaking sales manager, experienced technical trainers and directors. The Latin American sales manager alone spent 45% of his time last year in the region. We will continue this approach, especially with new and growing regions.???

Furthermore, there is a demand in both India and Latin America to retrofit burners to allow by-products to be fired, for example biogas generated in breweries or wood dust at factories. These by-products (gases) are mixed with natural gas and then used for energy generation. Retrofits such as these are a key stepping stone to get our products into new markets which will then lead onto new installations.?

Our recent investment in our plant, people and R&D facilities ensures that we can meet increased demand.??

Every Monday we’re profiling one of our Made in the UK, Sold to the World Award Winners, next up: CIGA Healthcare Ltd

To access free business support along your international journey, visit great.gov.uk.?