FedEx’s Martin Davidian: Why Yorkshire businesses find success in the export market

The SME community throughout the UK is definitely experiencing the benefits of the government’s pledge to double the country’s export value, with the aim of reaching the £1 trillion mark, by 2020.

After the UK Export Epicentres Report by FedEx Express was published online earlier this week, it is clear that among the regions to have seen the most growth in the export marketplace is Yorkshire.

The study, which extensively looked at over 2,500 SMEs in 26 cities across the UK, unveiled that Bradford is leading the country with an 86% export rate, which means the West Yorkshire city has the highest percentage of SMEs exporting anywhere in the country.

The findings also revealed that the neighbouring city, Leeds, had the joint second highest percentage of SMEs exporting with 81% - the same as London, Manchester and Southampton.

Furthermore, two thirds of all SMEs believe their city’s industrial heritage could play a pivotal part in expanding in the international market, and this viewpoint peaks in Hull at 81%.

However, businesses in Hull have unsuccessfully utilized the city’s rich history into the export marketplace as 50% of its SMEs require additional support, which is among the worst three cities in the UK.

The FedEx study clearly shows that the Yorkshire economy is on the rise, with the majority of SMEs garning a positive reputation for their international capabilities.

But why is one of the region’s major cities struggling to trade overseas, and how can businesses find the appropriate support to boost their export sales?

On Monday, Bdaily spoke with Martin Davidian, managing director sales UK & Ireland for FedEx Express, to get his thoughts on what the study found out about Yorkshire SMEs.

After looking at the FedEx Express report results, Bradford’s SME’s are with an 86% export rate, why do you think this is?

“We look at it as Bradford with a highly diversified economy, which has a strong employer in electronics and chemicals manufacturing. If we look at the rise in electronics globally and if we look at the growth in that area, this one one of the driving platforms for Bradford.

“Also the message coming back from the company survey is that SMEs also believe the heritage that exists in Bradford gives the city a great position to punch well above its weight.”

Upto 50% of businesses in Hull need additional support, how can the city’s SMEs boost their export sales? And what kind of support can they receive?

“When you talk about Hull, it is a good example of the message we were picking up from the epicentre survey. If we look across the 26 cities more than third of the respondents felt there wasn’t enough support on a local level. This is something that we at FedEx have really identified with for quite sometime now, that’s why as an organisation we’ve positioned ourselves to do surveys like this so we can understand and learn as much about the SMEs as we can.

“For example, about two years ago we introduced the Small Business Centre on the FedEx website, and that is there for small businesses to reach out for advice on exporting, markets, what the legislation is and what the customs regulations are.

“It is very much about being a service to small businesses, which don’t have to be a customer of FedEx. The center’s team are organised to deliver information in a timely manner, and our chairman Fred Smith has really focused on access to markets, access to information and access to advice.”

Even though Hull businesses require additional support, 81% of the city’s SMEs view their city’s industrial heritage as a positive. What aspects of Hull’s industrial heritage can benefit its international trade?

“The biggest factor for Hull must be that the city has got one of the largest commercial ports that handles around 13 million tonnes of cargo annually.

“As the city is on the eastern side of the country, there are some infrastructural challenges in terms of road links. But if you look at Hull’s commercial port as well as the city’s growing chemical and healthcare industries, FedEx has specialist teams in these areas because we know that worldwide these are the growing. So this bodes well for Hull.”

What does the future hold for Yorkshire SMEs?

“The future is really bright…Economically, geographically and just the real enthusiasm of the positive responses that we’ve had from SMEs in Yorkshire, especially in Leeds and Bradford, should bode well.”

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