Chancellor’s autumn statement will help UKTI’s get region’s firms exporting

Date published: 03 December 2011

Chief Executive of UKTI, Nick Baird, said yesterday that the announcement of £45m for UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement will help get UK firms exporting.

Clive Drinkwater, UKTI’s Regional Director for the North West, was also quick to welcome the news, and pledged to use the region’s share of the funding to help as many companies as possible begin their export journey.

Mr Drinkwater spoke in advance of the North West’s Exporting for Growth event on Monday 12 December, organised by UKTI North West and sponsored by partners PriceWaterhouse Coopers and HSBC. The event aims to bring together local companies and overseas trade experts, and the regional team will be joined by Lord Green, Minister for International Trade, who will be issuing a challenge to the region’s businesses to help drive forward the region’s economy through export growth.

Less than a quarter of the estimated 10,000 medium-sized firms in the UK export, and most of those that do are already receiving help from UKTI.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in a report last month said that £20bn could be generated for the British economy if British SMEs built up their presence outside Europe. The report compared the UK’s performance to that of Germany where firms had been winning market share in emerging markets and increasing their exports.

Speaking from China, where he is seeing at first hand how SMEs can increase exports to this fast-growing market, UKTI Chief Executive Nick Baird said: "I strongly welcome the SME export support package announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement.

“This very much responds to calls from the Confederation of British Industry, British Chambers of Commerce, the Institute of Directors and others to increase the support UK Trade & Investment provides.

“The funding will put a special focus on support for mid-sized businesses as part of our suite of support services for businesses of all sizes and sectors; and help us to develop closer partnerships with Chambers of Commerce, Trade Associations and Local Enterprise Partnerships.

“These new initiatives will help us with our declared aim to double to 50,000 the number of companies we support each year, as part of the Government's drive to get 100,000 new companies exporting.”

Clive Drinkwater adds: “I am determined to drive up exports and the number of exporters in the region, and am setting a target of at least 1000 new companies in the North West beginning their export journey with our help in 2012.

"With a world population of 7 billion and that of the UK in the region of 62 million, limiting yourself to selling to the home market doesn’t seem like an ambitious plan for growth. The opportunities in the rest of the world are incredible and emerging markets are growing at a fantastic pace.

“We are also encouraging businesses to enter a very special competition - the new “Exporting for Growth” prize which was officially launched by the Prime Minister and Lord Green last month. The prize will be a comprehensive package of support to the company with the best export idea. The winner will receive UKTI support worth £5000 and three grants for overseas travel to their target markets, plus expert business knowledge and insight from sponsor companies.

"I would urge any business that is thinking about exporting but unsure how to go about it, as well as existing exporters looking to expand into new markets to come to our regional event on 12 December to find out about the support available to help them."

The new funding will mean that more businesses will be able to access programmes such as Passport to Export, which is designed to get firms new to export to start selling overseas. The programme allocates a trade advisor to a company who links into UKTI’s network in around 100 countries to help identify the appropriate markets, find the right people to talk to within these markets, set up meetings and identify the appropriate trade fairs.

Funds will also be used for Gateway to Global Growth, a programme for experienced exporters that can encourage them to expand to high growth markets such as those in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The expansion of these programmes will enable many more medium-sized businesses to access this support.

UKTI works alongside UK Export Finance, which this year launched new products that can help firms of all sizes to insure against the risk of non-payment overseas or to secure working capital to fulfil large export orders.

To find out more information about the Exporting for Growth event and to receive an invitation, email julie.kembrey@ukti.gsi.gov.uk