Calnex opening China office as sales hit £3m

A TECHNOLOGY start-up based in Linlithgow is opening an office in China just four years after launching its first product.

Calnex Solutions expects sales to double to 3 million this year and is planning to take its headcount from 20 to about 30.

The company - which received financial backing from the Discovery Investment Fund and Scottish Enterprise - has already won business in China, South Korea, India and Taiwan. But chief executive and founder Tommy Cook believes the Asian market represents a "significant opportunity" for the firm.

Cook said: "Some 90 per cent of our sales over the past three years have come from Europe, North America and Asia. China is a fascinating market and to do more business there we really felt that we needed people on the ground who understand the culture and languages."

Calnex provides hardware and software that telecommunications businesses can use to test new equipment in the laboratory before deploying it in the field. Cook said the company's first product had proved popular with technology firms developing products for mobile phone networks, which are looking to cope with the growing use of smartphones, such as the Blackberry and iPhone.

Calnex is expected to benefit from next month's International Telecommunications Union meeting in Edinburgh, which the company is sponsoring. Cook is also bringing the International Timing and Synchronisation Forum's annual meeting to the Scottish capital next year

Polly Purvis, executive director of trade body ScotlandIS, said: "Moving into markets like China has to be done with care but if you get it right the rewards can be very worthwhile."