A COMPANY providing scalp cooling systems to reduce hair loss among chemotherapy patients is making huge strides in export markets.

Fenay Bridge-based Paxman Coolers has more than 14,000 machines in use throughout Europe and has successfully treated hundreds of thousands of cancer patients over the past 12 years with about 70% to 80% of them retaining most if not all of their hair.

The company has a major presence in the UK, but in the past 12 months is now seeing success in more than 20 countries across Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and the Americas.

The firm has also showcased its products at healthcare exhibitions in Brazil, China, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, the USA and the United Arab Emirates.

Operations director Richard Paxman said: “We have entered about 20 new markets over the last two years yet we are still only scratching the surface, especially in the large markets of Japan and the USA.

“We have a turnover of £2m now but we hope to turn that into a £50m turnover over the next five years which will have a massive impact on the number of jobs we can create.’’

Also nominated in this category, sponsored by HSBC, were Brunswick Tooling Ltd and Extract Technology.