Flag Industry Focus – Buyers Guide

A PIONEERING United Kingdom based publishing company that produced the first comprehensive directory of one of the world’s oldest manufacturing industries, is celebrating the first full year’s operation of the world’s only web portal, www.flagindustryfocus.com, that is a dedicated resource for manufacturers and sellers of flags, banners and flagpoles.

It went ‘live’ just 12 months ago now and operates as a companion product to the company’s annual publication, Flag industry focus – Buyers Guide. This web portal has achieved over 165,000 ‘hits’ in its first 12 months and is running over the last 6 months at a rate of over 227,000 ‘hits’ per year. Its activity grows each month with hundreds of visitors registering on to the ‘Site’, covering some 65 countries, equal to one third of the world.

The North of England based company, Flag Industry Focus achieved a major breakthrough in 1999 when it launched the first buyers guide to the world-wide flag, banner and flagpole industries – a notorious fragmented industry despite employing more than 75,000 people world-wide, made up of many family businesses scattered across the globe.

When you think that flag and flagpole making been traced back 2,500 years to when the Persians first carried Vexilliods [Wooden poles topped with a carving and pieces of fabric] into battle, it’s amazing that until now the industry had been void of its own trade media, says its Publisher, Alan Thompson.

Speaking from his Yarm based offices Alan says Individually, many companies who supply products and services to this global industry operate their own web sites, but until now there has been no where on the Web where buyers could centrally locate their requirements through a single visit.

This development offers the industry a one-stop information shop and a depth of knowledge not previously available to it plus a single online platform from which suppliers can promote their products to the disparate buyers of this world-wide industry.

Flagindustryfocus.com is a business-to-business directory that holds a database of over 1,600 suppliers of raw materials, equipment, consumables, services and finished products. The directory, is classified into the various manufacturing processes employed in the manufacture of cut & sewn flags, ceremonial flags, printed flags, pennants, banners, banner frames, parasols, umbrellas, wind socks and all types of flagpoles. The product list extends to over 500 items purchased by this industrial sector, a brilliant source of information especially for any new entrant to this market sector.

http://www.flagindustryfocus.com, in the first instance, is available only in English but work is well underway to translate this web portal into German, French and Spanish. These new developments will be in place by early next year.

By offering visitor the opportunity to search the web portal in their own mother tongue will greatly enhance its success across many of the world’s flag manufacturing markets says Alan. We operate now in a global market place and have to respect the needs and traditions of individual markets. To succeed in the Web you must offer a multilingual approach.

In some ways it is not easy to see why with so many small-scale manufacturers the overall industry generated global sales in the last 12 months of US$ 750 million. It can be said that the tragic events of 9/11 had an enormous effect on this industry When 10,000 flags can be produced on one automated flat screen-printing machine in a day and there are some 30 of these printing plants in Europe alone it is then to see how this level of business activity is achieved.

With more than a decade in this industry, it is great to finally get a chance to fly the flag for the whole industry, Alan added. And in the process put the North of England at the heart of what is a world-wide operation. This new marketing concept has been Alan’s brainchild and www.flagindustryfocus.com represented a major investment.

Also see: Flags of the World

About The Author:

Nate Garth is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-flags.com. The flags of the world are symbols of recognition full of beauty and color for each country.