Seeking out business in non-traditional markets is not a typical marketing strategy but for Praetorian International it has certainly paid off.

It takes time to build a business in the international defence industry. Diplomacy, trust and personality are critical. This is particularly true when your clients are markets such as the Middle East and the Caribbean; they need to feel confident that you are looking out for their best interests.

Praetorian International, a UK-based company, is a market leader in military doctrine and counter terrorism training for military, law-enforcement and security organisations. It has conducted training on four continents and mentored security forces for high-profile international events, such as the Fifth Summit of the Americas, the Pope’s visit to Jordan, the Nobel Peace Prize and the World Economic Forum. Established in 2006, Praetorian recruits former Special Forces soldiers to train specialist units in the Middle East, Northern Europe, the Caribbean and the US.

“Our business naturally takes us abroad and I knew where I had to go to build it,” says Philip Greatrix, co-founder of Praetorian International. “However, from the beginning, we knew it was important to register the company in the UK and conform to UK rules and regulations. This gives us long-term sustainability that we might not have if we were based in some of the countries in which we do business, and hopefully it makes us more valuable in the long term.”

Making good contacts

Philip and his partner David Heeley set up Praetorian when they saw an opportunity whilst working in the Middle East. From the start, they established very specific criteria for the type of client-countries they were looking for, focussing on second or third world countries with emerging markets that were UK-friendly and hosting high-profile international events. It wasn’t important whether the countries had slow growth, just as long as they didn’t have extreme ups and downs, which could cause concerns for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

We have learned that building trust and respect between cultures takes time and patience.

The countries in which Praetorian works are not interested in permanent relationships with external security trainers. The standard procedure involves a security training team to arrive a few weeks in advance of the contract period and to leave when the job is completed. While some arrangements continue longer than others, financially and politically it is not in the countries’ best interest to establish foreigners in their long-term security and military training operations. The first thing that Praetorian needed to do to make initial contact with potential clients was to network, and UK Trade & Investment was able to help with this.

“UK Trade & Investment has desks in many countries,” says Philip. “They helped us immensely when we were trying to make worthwhile contacts. The UK Trade & Investment desk officer for Bahrain arranged valuable meetings for us with people such as the UK Defence Attaché in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain. They also encouraged us to join the Ballistic Tool Kit which is a group of UK SMEs who work together for mutual benefit. And most importantly, thanks to UK Trade & Investment, we have had the opportunity to meet many leaders of British industry through David Paragyn’s (FCO) networking meetings. This initial support was crucial to us.”

Partnership for the future

In 2008, Praetorian entered a business arrangement with advanced technology giant Lockheed Martin (US), which it believes will propel its business into the future. The intent is to create long-term sustainability by offering the most technologically advanced security and military training available. One tool that they are now investigating is the use of virtual reality in the training process.

Despite the company’s success to date, Philip acknowledges that it has been a tough process. He plans to spend the remainder of the year refining the existing business, as he prepares for an already full schedule for 2010.

Praetorian has learned some valuable lessons along the way: “While you shouldn’t be afraid to get out there, it is important to know your market, its people and its culture,” Philip says, “Clients in some of the emerging markets have very strong preconceived ideas about what a British company is and not all of those views are positive. We have learned that building trust and respect between cultures takes time and patience. But it’s worth putting in the effort.”