Comment: How the Department for International Trade is supporting Stiltz with its global vision
UK-based homelifts manufacturer Stiltz is still a relative fledgling in the assistive product sector with only 13 years of heritage. Yet in this short space of time, it has achieved over £33m in worldwide sales and sold over 3,500 units.
With exports doubling year-on-year since 2020, Co-founder Lachlan Faulkner explains how this remarkable track record has been achieved and why input from the Department for International Trade (DIT) has helped contribute to this success since 2010.
Prior to establishing Stiltz in the UK, Australian business partners Lachlan Faulkner and Cameron Gillespie reached out to the DIT (formerly known as the Department of UK Trade & Investment). They believed government guidance was essential to maximise the business opportunity and to ensure their launch strategy would be effective.
The duo had considered other countries for their headquarters but settled for the UK for a number of reasons, one of which was the encouragement and support from the DIT. With this assistance, Lachlan and Cameron were able to forge a faster path towards market penetration both here and subsequently abroad.
“We had excellent levels of business support through the DIT, which gave us the confidence to locate here,” Lachlan, Stiltz Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer explains. “The UK had a very established market for stairlifts and as our homelifts were following a similar international expansion model to that of the most successful stairlift providers, it made sense to choose Britain as our base.”
Empowered by the DIT, Stiltz was able to carve a new sector in the home accessibility market – the homelift – a product descriptor which did not exist before Stiltz re-imagined the ‘through-floor-domestic-lift’.
For the first time Stiltz was able to offer a far superior alternative to senior and disabled people looking to remain in their own home. The ‘ageing in place’ trend needed a solution which eliminated the safety risks of using stairs whilst not encumbering owners with unsightly adaptations. The traditional stairlift was no longer the only choice as the progressive Stiltz Homelift offered a new, twenty-first century way to avoid relocation into retirement properties or residential care.
The first Duo Classic Homelift from Stiltz was sold to a UK customer in 2011. This began a rapidly evolving journey for the business as national sales grew and formed a stable platform to begin developing exports. The DIT’s involvement once again became pivotal with strategic guidance from an International Trade Adviser (ITA) who assisted with establishing export marketing and channels.
“Our ITA has supported our export development strategy and provided ongoing advice and contacts,” says Lachlan. “We have received assistance with opening up new export markets and advice on the challenges following the UK’s exit from the EU which has been invaluable.”
In 2018 export activity intensified with the appointment of Magda Starzak. As Export Sales Manager Magda was the catalyst for increased international sales and the opening up of more territories, again with the support of the DIT by her side.
Today, an eight-strong team drives exports further and faster which has resulted in Stiltz winning multiple accolades including the Lloyds Bank Business Award for Export, as well as a position on the SME Export Track Listing, the FT1000 list of Europe’s fastest growing companies, the Virgin Fast Track and the HSBC International Track. These significant achievements were surpassed in 2020 when Stiltz secured The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category – made even more meaningful in 2022 when the late Queen Elizabeth became a Stiltz customer.
A Stiltz Trio+ was installed in Craigowan Lodge on the Balmoral Estate to ensure Her Majesty retained full access to the whole of the property. “As a relatively young homelift company, we were especially honoured to have been chosen for The Queen’s Scottish residence,” comments Lachlan.
With such prestigious customers, it is no surprise that Stiltz Homelifts are now sold in over 50 countries. With the help of the DIT, its worldwide reach has grown to include regions such as the USA, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, and South Africa. Spain has been particularly successful for Stiltz with exports valuing £5m predicted in the next 5 years.
When considering how far the business has come, and where it is going in terms of exports, it is understandable that Stiltz is an advocate of the DIT. For other companies seeking international growth, Lachlan concludes with some key advice: “Invest in a good team early. The best people will help you get where you need to be sooner so it’s important to trust the capabilities of others such as the DIT.
Nowhere is this more important than in our export team. Creating this department to build export growth has been fundamental to our rapid growth across the world.”
Multi-national Stiltz is a specialist manufacturer of pioneering through-floor homelifts. Its two-person Duo Homelift and three-person, wheelchair-accessible Trio Homelift, offer an alternative to stairlifts
