A business that manufactures traditional paints based on linseed oil made from Yorkshire-grown flax, has seen orders from the US increase by more than 120 per cent in the last 12 months.

Leeds-based Brouns & Co said that from January to the end of August 2022, US sales were £33,782 compared to £14,824 in the same period in 2021.

Demand is growing for the firm’s products following support from the Department for International Trade in Yorkshire and the US.

Chief executive Michiel Brouns is about to embark on his third visit this year to the east coast of America after a series of restoration projects were completed using Brouns & Co linseed paint in New England, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia.

Michiel Brouns, chief executive of Brouns & Co.

His visits will include a Maine bakery, and the Printmaker’s Inn, a luxury hotel in Savannah, Georgia.

The Yorkshire firm’s linseed oil paint will also be used on the Wilton House Museum, a 1750s building converted to a museum in Richmond, Virginia. Brouns also recently advised on the restoration of the Ailey Young House, a historically important African American building in North Carolina.

“Thanks to US architectural heritage, there are huge numbers of timber-build properties in the States and we’ve been focusing our efforts over there, particularly on the east coast, where the maintenance and preservation of historic wooden buildings is a major conservation priority,” said Mr Brouns.

“In Europe we assume the US does not have old buildings, but the majority of the historic properties there, as in Britain, date from Georgian and Victorian times. The great thing is that these American historic buildings are young enough that with the right care and maintenance they can easily exist for hundreds more years.”

He added: “Linseed paint is a centuries-old, natural way to protect timber from exposure to the elements, which is both sustainable and durable.”

One of only a handful of linseed paint manufacturers in Europe, Brouns & Co had already seen US orders, fulfilled from the firm’s Leeds warehouse, top £100,000 for the first time in March this year, and orders are now coming in every day from US clients, compared to weekly two years ago.

Brouns & Co’s annual turnover is over £500,000, so pro rata US sales now account for just over 10 per cent of total sales. The company employs seven people.

US exports surge for Leeds-based natural paint manufacturer