NI-based Environmental Street Furniture (ESF) has expanded in the USA by launching its new office in Washington.

As the company's first entity in the US, the decision to open an American office follows numerous successful contracts in the themed entertainment industry in North America. The company received consultancy support from Invest Northern Ireland to help establish their US base.

Alan Lowry, Managing Director of ESF, said the move into America was the next step in growing the business.

"Throughout our five years in business we have established ESF as a reputable supplier of street furniture, themed furniture and solar powered products, initially within the UK, before expanding into the global market," he said.

"During that time, we have experienced significant growth – our export sales increased to 30% in 2016-2017 and we forecast this growth to increase even further in the years ahead given the appetite for our products."

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Mr Lowry continued: "We want to ensure we continue providing our customers with an unrivalled service and feel that by establishing an office in America, we will be better placed to achieve this goal. There is a lot of potential within the American market, especially for our themed and solar powered products and we felt this was the right time to build this market."

The new office comes following the launch of ESF's Stellar Solar Smart Bench product in New York City, which was unveiled by Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke as part of the Smart Cities campaign on 29 May.

Ton Agelink from Newton Brown Urban Design (NBUD) who is ESF's launch partner in NYC, joined Congresswoman Clarke, The Brooklyn Chamber, New York University and a number of other organisations to launch the #SmartCitiesAndYou campaign, where they revealed the Stellar Solar Smart Bench to the audience.

Speaking about the Stellar Solar Smart Bench, Mr Agelink said: "We are extremely excited to have the first Stellar Solar Smar Bench in New York. This innovative product is exactly what we were looking for the Smart Cities campaign and we're delighted to facilitate ESF with their launch and promote this fantastic product."

The Stellar Solar Smart Bench, designed and manufactured by ESF, includes features such as WiFi, USB charging and data gathering capabilities.

Image: (L – R) Ton Agelink from NBUD, ESF's launch partner in New York, and Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, who launched the Smart Cities campaign, pictured with the Stellar Bench.

(LM/MH)