A MAJOR part of an East Lancashire household plastics goods retailer's export success is down to being proud of being 'Made in Britain'.

Bosses at Padiham-based What More UK are not just happy to fly the flag on foreign shores - they are putting their soaring overseas sales down to the manufacturing drive of the same name.

Dozens of products coming out of the Shuttleworth Mead venture's doors proudly bear the marque, both in the UK and abroad.

And director Tony Grimshaw is adamant their involvement has contributed to their 18 per cent rise in export sales for 2018.

He said: "Some international buyers assume that products made in Britain are high-quality but often too expensive, and that's simply not the case.

"We're changing those perceptions by meeting with buyers face-to-face at trade shows to prove that value doesn't necessarily have to impact on quality.

"We're seeing a real global trend for buying British and our business is growing at rapid speed because of it.

"It's a great time for British manufacturers to tap into this trend and one of the main reasons we joined Made in Britain was to be part of a network of firms all striving towards the same goal – to showcase the diverse British manufacturing sector so buyers in the UK and overseas can make informed choices."

Sales of around £50million were achieved from their sites in Padiham and Altham for the year, which has also seen an £11million investment made in new manufacturing equipment.

Plans are also being formulated to expand their warehousing capacity by another 200,000 square feet in the coming months.