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Salem Tube: support for rapid expansion into data centres
The Northumberland manufacturer secured a finance package worth £3.5 million to strengthen its position as a global supplier to this emerging sector.
Salem Tube International is a highly specialised manufacturer based in Northumberland. It supplies heat transfer and heat exchange tubes for industrial cooling systems used in a wide variety of industries.
Over the past 30 years, Salem Tube has built a reputation for having Europe’s largest stock of heat exchanger and condenser tubes, exporting to more than 40 countries worldwide.
The challenge
The majority of Salem Tube’s business has always come from the energy sector, but recently it experienced growing interest from data centre developers working in the AI and cloud storage sectors.
With demand for these facilities is skyrocketing; they have high energy requirements and cannot function without the type of cooling equipment that Salem Tube specialises in.
The company had already been taking on contracts in this area but needed support to solidify its position and fully capitalise on this emerging opportunity.
The solution
Salem Tube was able to secure a £3.5 million financing package from Santander UK, backed by UKEF’s General Export Facility. This government initiative allows exporters to access working capital facilities of up to £25 million.
It’s the latest phase of Salem’s partnership with UK Export Finance, which has supported the business for more than five years, previously helping the company secure new contracts in Africa.
The impact
Salem Tube now has the money it needs to take on larger data centre contracts, strengthening its position as a global supplier to the sector. It has already been able to secure several overseas contracts in the US and Middle East and has plans to further expand its workforce in the future.
The support from Santander and UKEF will be integral to Salem Tube being able to establish itself in this space. It’s such an exciting sector and one that’s moving incredibly quickly, so having access to the working capital we need has put us in the best position to bid for larger contracts and expand our workforce as needed.
Support for your company’s general export business activities
Designed with SMEs in mind, our General Export Facility provides guarantees to lenders where finance is not tied to specific export contracts. It covers a range of facility types to support a company’s general exporting activities.