THE sweet smell of success cannot be too far away for a Blackburn home fragrance firm after a trade mission to the Middle East.

East Park Road's Nuhr Home, which was established in the summer of 2016, had already secured an export deal with a Dubai department store.

And founder Sahina Ibrahim is hopeful of similar successes after joining a Department of International Trade (DIT)expedition to the Saudi Franchise Expo.

Making halal and vegetarian products, the Hole I'th Wall firm has a range of reed diffusers and scented candles.

Mr Ibrahim said their first export order "took them by surprise" so he attended a DIT export roadshow.

He was told of one candlemaker who shipped their wares to Saudi but found their entire consignment had melted in the heat.

"This is something we'd never thought of, and it encouraged us to change the formula of our products to make sure they could handle the heat," said Mr Ibrahim.

"Aside from the logistical challenges, we’ve also learnt Middle Eastern countries have strict import regulations.

"But we know support is out there to help us every step of the way."

The DIT has confirmed that exports from the region rose by 3.6 per cent from 2016 to 2017.