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The managing director of a Norfolk computer software company has won a prestigious scholarship to a top US business school to give her a crucial insight into American markets.

And Emma Gooderham is confident the lessons she learns there will help her develop new export strategies to grow her business overseas, and create new jobs at home.

Emma, 33, is one of just a handful of executives from all over the UK to be selected for the US Marketing Scholarship programme, organised and supported by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and the British Consulate General in Chicago at the world-renowned Kellogg School of Management in Illinois.

Billed as the "Ultimate Marketing Masterclass", the programme involves five days of intense course work designed to give UK executives an unrivalled understanding of how to compete in US markets, followed by a week-long attachment to a company to see the marketing process in action.

Emma's firm, Allies Computing, of Framingham Pigot, near Norwich, specialises in postal addressing software which enables users from government departments and councils to pizza delivery firms to quickly and accurately look up exact addresses, cutting back office administration time and the possibility of goods and letters being sent to the wrong destination.

The US scholarship is the ideal platform, says Emma, to capitalise on the latest product, a new global addressing software service called World Addresses Web, which is being launched next month (April) and aimed at the international mail market.

Said Emma: "It could provide huge growth for us if it takes off the way we think it will, and we will be looking to expand with new premises and more staff. The scholarship is ideal and very exciting. I have a strong interest in marketing and this will give me a great insight into US markets."

Emma, who started at Allies Computing in the sales department and worked her way up to the MD's chair, is one of just seven on the Kellogg programme, and flies out to Illinois on April 17. Her spell in the classroom will be followed by a hands-on attachment with a firm in San Francisco.

The company, which was founded 22 years ago by software consultants Dr Peter Allies and Dr Lorna Allies, employs 21 staff at Framingham Pigot, and last year turned over £1.5m. It has already had considerable support and advice from UKTI, starting on its Passport to Export programme designed to mentor firms new to the export world and ease them through the export process with training and help with business plans.

More recently, Allies Computing has used UKTI's Export Marketing Research Scheme (EMRS) to analyse business opportunities in the US, and also visited the country on a UKTI-led mission.

It now exports to the US, Canada and Scandinavia, and has its sights set on growing the American market, plus breaking into France and Germany.

"UKTI has supported us every step on the way," said Emma. "They've even done some French language training for us and at every turn their advice has been invaluable."

International Trade Advisor Bradley Rowley, based in Norwich, said: "The company has utilised several UKTI services and have been a pleasure to work with. Competition for scholarships to the Kellogg programme is very fierce and Emma has done brilliantly well to be accepted. It should equip her with the skills to take Allies Computing forward, learning about the sheer scale of US markets and the legal challenges that can differ from state to state."

Emma added: "Bradley has been brilliant. He spent quite a bit of time with me and our sales manager Chris Hamlin, and went through all of the ways UKTI could support us. Everyone we have had contact with at UKTI have been fantastic and I think they are doing a great job of supporting new to exporting businesses."

Chris is also travelling out to San Francisco in the near future to generate new business, and will be heading a new office the firm plans to establish there later this year.

Left: Mark Edmunds, Right: Graham Edmondson

Allies are continuing to expand and develop not only their superb product range but their in-house team. With the pending launch of the eagerly awaited World Addresses Web service, the recent successful rebrand of PostCoder and the release of PostCoder Batch version 1.1, it was necessary to recruit 2 new members to the team in the form of Support Manager, Graham Edmondson and Web Developer, Mark Edmunds.

Graham has relocated to Norfolk from Stevenage with his wife and two children and comes from an IT management background with an Events Management Company. Mark Edmunds joined Allies after working for Web Design Studios based in Devon and Norwich and has recently welcomed his first child Olivia into the world.