A firm of business consultants based in Caerphilly is looking to triple its £4.5 million turnover by expansion in America.
S A Partners, based at Castlegate Business Park, is opening its first office in the US following financial support from bank HSBC.
The company, which specialises in cutting costs and improving efficiency in other firms through a business practice known as Lean, will open in North Carolina to serve its clients in the US.
Two staff members will be based in the US office growing to five. It will then add further US offices in Washington DC and New York as well as securing a presence in the Middle East, China, South East Asia and South America by 2015.
The company already operates in Ireland and Australia and believes international expansion will triple its £4.5 million annual turnover.
S A Partners currently employs 50 people, with three-quarters based at its Caerphilly headquarters. The firm expects that 15 new jobs in Wales will be created as a result of the expansion.
Bank HSBC is providing £600,000 in capital funding for the expansion, while S A Partners has switched all of its banking to the financial institution.
Robin Jaques, lead partner with S A Partners, said: “We work with multinational clients so it’s strategically important that we develop a global presence to continue to meet their needs. We already operate in Ireland and Australia but the US is an important destination for us because many of our clients operate there and multinational buying decisions tend to be made from the US. The US will be the springboard for our launch into other markets throughout the world and it was crucial that we partnered with a bank that could support that international expansion.”
Ed White, HSBC Swansea, Bridgend and the Valleys Area Commercial Director, added: “S A Partners works predominantly with large corporate multinational businesses, so it makes strategic sense to operate from where its clients demand. It has ambitious expansion plans but is exactly the type of business that will be able to successfully export its products and services.
“We look forward to working with the company as it achieves its goals.”
S A Partners was founded in 1993 by Professor Peter Hines, of Cardiff University’s Lean Enterprise Research Centre.
Lean business thinking is a business practice pioneered in Japan by company Toyota and looks at finding efficiencies within organisations.
S A Partners’ clients include Argos, Marks and Spencer, United Utilities and Specsavers.