With its first half year of trading now completed, RÖDER HTS, has been greatly encouraged by the response from both old and new customers across Europe.

The company, launched at the beginning of this year by tented structures pioneer, Heinz Röder, has enjoyed steady sales and is gearing up for the promotion of a new range of products in the first half of next year.

Says UK sales director, Giles Hill: "We have enjoyed a better than anticipated first six months of trading and that, I think, speaks volumes for the quality of our products, our competitive prices and, importantly, the strength of Heinz Röder's name."

Hill, who is one of a number of key sales personnel recruited by RÖDER HTS and located in key European markets, says that one of his toughest obstacles in the early part of the year was to remove the confusion over the company's name.

" Heinz and his family first established their business almost half a century ago and built up a strong business whose hallmark was innovation. They were well to the fore in pioneering the development and use of hollow aluminium structures which have since become the industry standard. That business was sold ten years ago," explains Hill.

He continues: " RÖDER HTS (the initial stand for high tech structures) is the vehicle which Heinz established to return to the business with the emphasis very strong on maintaining a reputation for high quality products and an innovative approach."

RÖDER HTS operates from a manufacturing base at Büdingen near Frankfurt and offers customers a comprehensive range of covers, frames and spares and in its first half year has focused on extending and enhancing its range of aluminium products and structures. The company has installed the very latest in sophisticated CNC engineering equipment, and this, says Hill, has been a vital element in the launch strategy.

"RÖDER HTS has invested heavily in both people and equipment and our manufacturing capability is second to none. It enables us to produce the highest quality structures - as standard or bespoke units - with short lead times and at keen prices," he says.

While the company's sales team has been busy promoting RÖDER HTS products, development working has been proceeding at the Büdingen headquarters on a new lightweight product made of composite carbon and glass and for which patent protection has been sought in key countries worldwide.

Says Hill: " We are presently planning our Home Show at our site in Büdingen in late October and that will provide us with an opportunity not only to promote our range of structures to new and old customers but also to give them an update on the latest RÖDER HTS developments."

Meanwhile, the company is planning to have a presence at the Showman's Show at Newbury between 16 and 17 October and next month it will be launching its new website.

"The new website will carry details of all our products and will carry text in English, French and German. It will be extremely easy to navigate and we hope that it will be a real benefit for our customers," says Hill.