Worldpoly

Family business takes on the world

Third generation small family business Worldpoly, has world domination in its sights. Established in 2000, its history began in 1959 when Tom Hall made the first polyethylene pipe in the Southern Hemisphere. 

From small beginnings, Worldpoly now exports to 108 countries worldwide, accounting for about 70% of total business.

Based in Victoria, Worldpoly is a specialist manufacturer of polyethylene pipe butt welding equipment. “Butt welding machines are primarily an alignment clamp which aligns two lengths of polyethylene pipe, shaves them, heats them and then forces them together under an international or national standard of temperature, time and pressure to give a lifetime of 100 years and a joint which will survive the failure of the pipe,” says Rob Hall, Managing Director and owner of Worldpoly.

With a focus on international markets, Worldpoly saw an opportunity to establish a new distributor in South Africa, further opening up the Sub-Saharan Africa market. Their bank was unable to help finance the venture because of the cash flow nature of extended terms to a foreign country. Efic stepped in to help.

Financial support that’s flexible

“The largest challenge to exporting is the cash flow required to match the credit terms, which are provided by foreign national competitors,” said Hall

Worldpoly had previously contacted Efic for financial support, however loan limits were too high for their requirements. With the introduction of EficDirect, small businesses like Worldpoly, are able to access smaller, unsecured loans with flexible repayment terms. 

“Efic funding allowed us to send our machines to a new distributor in South Africa. The Small Business Export Loan from Efic made this sale possible, and has allowed us to facilitate more stock in South Africa.”

A passion that’s paying off

“The online portal, EficDirect, was straightforward, easy and self-explanatory all the way through. It gave me a sufficient degree of predictability on the loan that I was able to commit myself to the sale in negotiations with the client.

Once we started the online application we were able to save it and return to it. Then once it was submitted, we were able to track the application through to completion,” said Hall.

“Our experience with Efic from the start has been fantastic. There’s always been help available. The people have been very real, which is refreshing,” said Marketing Manager Nikita Hall.

“The key to Worldpoly’s success is our passion for the industry, and the fact that we’re never scared of a challenge. We project our partnership in South Africa will grow substantially over the next few years and will allow us to expand further into Sub-Saharan Africa.”