BOSSES of a Blackburn firm which has factories around the world claim the weak pound is giving it an edge over many of its competitors.

Tim Oliver, of soil reinforcement specialist Tensar International, Shadsworth, Blackburn, said the weakening strength of the UK currency was making it better placed in the European market-place.

But with a base in the USA he also warned that raw material costs had put a squeeze on much of the advantage provided by the fluctuating strength of the pound.

He said: “The weak pound has increased our competitiveness in Europe so that’s a plus. That is offset slightly by the fact that our raw materials are set by the dollar rate so it is not all win, but on balance it’s been a good move.”

Tensar, which employs 50 people at its Shadsworth base, manufactures geo-grids – high-strength polymer grids which are used in soil reinforcement work in construction projects.

An example of this work comes in civil engineering when a retaining wall is built and reinforced with concrete, the polymer grid is placed as part of this structure to provide reinforced layering.

A world leader with a total of 260 employees, it has a US base in Atlanta, Georgia, and a factory in central China which has led to its sales in that country and surrounding area going from zero in 2006 to over £10million last year.

And this success in the global market leads Mr Oliver to think that Tensar is well placed to rise-out the current economic down-turn.

He said: “If you look at what’s happening, the housing markets have been decimated.

"But governments are talking about spending money on infrastructure.”