A CAR parts supplier from Droitwich has joined forces with one of Europe's largest contract presswork companies to make the most of a multi-million pound opportunity in Poland.

Barton Cold-Form, a producer of metal and alloy car parts, has signed an agreement with presswork specialists Brandauer, which has a facility in Birmingham, to showcase its joint expertise to the emerging Polish market through the use of a dedicated sales representative and office.

Backed by Accelerate - a Birmingham Chamber of Commerce initiative - the agreement means the two companies will use their expertise to find orders and are already looking at adding at a potential £1 million order book to existing contracts.

Paul Denning, managing director of Barton Cold-Form, said: "We set up a sales and distribution centre in Katowice at the start of this year in a bid to bolster existing work in the automotive and medical sectors.

"Having completed research and conversations with both English and Polish industry experts, I decided to employ a dedicated sales manager in Roman Najda. He understands our business and what we are trying to achieve and from a standing start has already secured £500,000 worth of new orders. During a meeting with Accelerate, I was chatting to David Spears from Brandauer, a company that possessed a different skills set to our own, but shared similar ambitions to break into Eastern Europe.

"We explained about our operation out there and felt there was an opportunity whereby Roman could act on behalf of both parties. It's a win-win situation."

Barton Cold-Form, which employs 105 people at its facility in Droitwich, is now looking at a number of possible contracts that the new partnership could work on and has recruited a Polish sales rep to be based at its UK plant.

The partnership was a result of the two organisations' involvement with AutoZone - an Accelerate initiative that looks to match existing capacity in the region with opportunities across Europe.

Pete West, project manager, said "Companies in the West Midlands are fast realising that there are endless opportunities to supply car plants all over the world and this is something that we are trying to assist."