Partner Article

£13m for UKTI to help SMEs export

£13m of funding has been awarded by the Government to help more than 10,000 British firms to export.

UKTI will distribute the funding, to allow SMEs to attend foreign trade shows through the Tradeshow Access Programme; offer discounts on the Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS), which helps firms to find first contacts overseas; and increase support for businesses on trade missions.

An additional £2.5m will be used to help firms access “high-value” opportunities as identified by UKTI, and a further £1.5m will be used in projects aimed at driving inward investment.

Trade and Investment Minister Lord Green said: “UK Trade & Investment intends to double the number of companies it helps to 50,000 by 2015. We know that our help can have a transformative effect on businesses. On average, companies that work with UKTI go on to win additional sales of £100,000 within 18 months and 90% of those we support are small and medium-sized firms.”

“This extra investment will directly help businesses to travel abroad to showcase their products, find more customers, and make the contacts they need to succeed. As we look to trade more with high-growth markets outside the EU, we want to ensure businesses have the .support they need to realise their full potential.”

Business Secretary Vince Cable, said: “We anticipate that over 10,000 businesses will benefit from the additional funding, moving us closer to our ambition of getting 100,000 more businesses exporting British goods and services around the world.”

UKTI will host “Export Week” from November 12-16 with events across the UK, including Explore Export, where experts from 70 overseas markets will provide bespoke advice about trading.

David Beaty, HSBC’s Head of Commercial Banking for the North: “At HSBC, we welcome the news from UKTI of a £13million funding pot to support SMEs looking to export. As we know, with a domestic economy that continues to pose challenges, international trade offers an important opportunity for business growth, which will in turn assist in our own country’s economic recovery.

“We work closely with UKTI, and indeed with businesses across the region to helpmaximise opportunities for international trade. In fact, this year we are aiming to further increase the support we offer to SMEs for international trade, and we have created an international SME fund which will provide at least £5billion of lending to SMEs with a turnover of up to £25million.

“The funding announcement from UKTI reiterates our message to SMEs: there is funding support available for forward thinking businesses that are keen to identify routes for growth. We’d encourage any company thinking about options for international trade to come and speak to us and find out how HSBC’s worldwide network of international experts could support their business.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .