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Success Stories Sucess Stories
EIC Survive& &Thrive Thrive IX EIC Survive 2025
2025 JulyJuly 2025
Story type #transformation (main category) #culture
Benefits
Belzona (US) From product supplier to solution partner in Latin America Barry Nisill CEO
How is Belzona thriving? By transforming its business approach in Latin America from a passive, legacy-driven model to a proactive, market-led strategy, Belzona has successfully diversified beyond its traditional oil and gas focus. The pivot has delivered impressive results, with revenue growing from US$14m in 2019 to US$21m in 2024 – a 50% increase in just five years – while reducing dependency on volatile state-controlled energy sectors and expanding into high-growth industries such as mining, industrial maintenance and infrastructure. The challenge - Despite having operated in Latin America for decades through a wellestablished network of exclusive distributors, many with relationships spanning between 10 and 40-plus years, Belzona was not fully capitalising on the region’s potential. By 2019, Latin America accounted for only 22% of the company’s business in the Americas, despite market research indicating the opportunity was some 400% greater than current revenue levels. This untapped potential stemmed from several key challenges. Belzona had become overly dependent on the oil and gas sector, which represented over 75% of its Latin American business. Unlike in the United States, where private companies drive the energy sector, Latin America’s oil and gas industry is heavily state controlled, making it vulnerable to political and economic instability, project delays tied to election cycles, and unpredictable funding priorities. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 further exposed these vulnerabilities. While other regions rebounded quickly, Latin America remained stagnant and highlighted the need for diversification. In addition, changing customer expectations, increased demand for digital engagement, and reduced face-to-face interaction created new challenges for a business built on traditional relationships and technical expertise. The solution - In response, Belzona implemented a comprehensive strategy from late 2021 to transform its approach in Latin America. Rather than simply providing polymer products for industrial maintenance applications, the company repositioned itself as a complete solutions provider through its Product Plus
approach – delivering not just high-performance materials but expert application support, training and long-term reliability to customers. The implementation involved three key initiatives. First, Belzona enhanced its distributor education and training, which has helped long-standing partners target new industries with a refined value proposition. Crucially, these endeavours also involved extensive efforts to overcome resistance to diversifying beyond oil and gas. Second, the company developed localised marketing strategies that addressed the unique digital behaviours of Latin American businesses. Instead of relying on traditional B2B channels such as LinkedIn, Belzona focused on other platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook, which are widely used for business communication in the region. Third, Belzona strengthened its team by recruiting engineers and marketing professionals from Latin American countries, ensuring staff not only speak Spanish, Portuguese and French, but also understood regional business customs and culture. This globally diverse team now includes professionals from across the Americas and beyond to ensure consistent technical and commercial support. The success of the new strategy is best illustrated through two major success stories with clients in the region. In Brazil, Belzona partnered with distributor HITA Comércio e Serviços to address severe structural integrity issues at a major copper mining facility operated by, a leading mining company The flotation cells had advanced corrosion with thickness losses exceeding 50%, creating a high risk of failure. To address this, Belzona provided a comprehensive solution covering structural reinforcement, internal anti-abrasive lining and external protection. The project successfully protected over 3,600 square metres of critical assets, significantly increased operational reliability, and resulted in the largest single Belzona sale in Brazil’s history, accounting for nearly 25% of the company’s 2024 revenue in the country. Meanwhile, in Colombia, Belzona worked with a local distributor Ingeniería y Soluciones Ambientales S.A.S. to rehabilitate deteriorated protective coatings on 2.3 kilometres of penstock pressure pipes at a hydroelectric plant operated by Empresas Públicas de Medellín. After extensive technical engagement, Belzona provided a customised rehabilitation strategy using Belzona 5831, a 100% solids epoxy coating designed for wet conditions.
▸ Successful diversification strategy, with higher percentage of sales now coming from mining, industrial maintenance and infrastructure. ▸ Sustained growth and expectation of 5% increase in 2025.
Key findings For young people ▸ Stay curious and take every challenge as a chance to learn. The industries we serve evolve, and so should we. For industry ▸ As a CEO, you can’t afford to stand still. The world is changing fast: what worked yesterday won’t necessarily work tomorrow. For government ▸ Push for a UK-US free trade agreement and make American manufacturing more competitive.
Belzona (US) at a glance: Key products and services: polymeric solutions for industrial maintenance, offering unconventional repair alternatives for end users. Main industries served: ▸ Oil and gas – 25% ▸ Conventional power – 10% ▸ Onshore renewable energy – 10% ▸ Nuclear power – 5% ▸ Others (non-energy: mining, chemical, marine, steel, wastewater) – 50% Headquarters: Harrogate, UK Year established: 1952 Number of employees: 41 Revenue: £16m Revenue from exports: 46%
The solution fully rehabilitated 22,594 square metres of pipeline, restored operational efficiency and extended infrastructure life expectancy by over 20 years. Thanks to its change in strategy, Belzona has successfully diversified its industry focus, with a significantly higher percentage of sales now coming from mining, industrial maintenance and infrastructure. At the same time, the company has strengthened distributor engagement, with partners now actively pursuing new markets instead of waiting for oil and gas projects. Now, Belzona is poised for a period of sustained growth, with a projected 5% increase in 2025 as the company continues to expand its Product Plus approach across the Americas region.