A year ago, Lord Green, Minister for Trade and Investment, challenged British business to go for growth through international trade.
Quite simply, companies that export are more productive, grow faster and perform better than companies that don’t and the job of UK Trade & Investment teams across the country is to encourage and support more firms to do more and better international business.
UKTI’s Team North East, with 20 International Trade Advisers located across the region, is your first port of call for advice and guidance whether you are an experienced exporter or just starting to think about international trade.
And don’t for a moment think your business is too small to sell overseas – Small and Medium Sized businesses with nine employees or less account for more than a quarter of the UK’s exports of goods to EU markets and 22 per cent of exports of goods to markets outside the EU.
A year on from Lord Green’s rallying call, UKTI is hosting Export Week (12-16 November) with more than 100 events across all regions including a packed programme here in the North East.
As part of the initiative, a flagship event Explore Export is also being held on Wednesday, 14 November at DoubleTree, Leeds. Explore Export is all about giving companies the chance to get the low-down on doing business in different overseas markets from members of the UKTI commercial teams who live and work there.
It’s something UKTI North East has done many times before Explore Export is one of the most popular and heavily subscribed events we do all year, and it’s easy to see why that is.
UKTI’s global network is unique in offering a direct link between your International Trade Adviser here and commercial teams in over 100 locations overseas. Our colleagues from Britain’s Embassies, Consulates and High Commissions are mostly native speakers, with a deep knowledge of their own business sectors and an unparalleled insight into how to do business successfully in their market.
One of the best ways to get a feel for what international trade is really like is to visit an overseas market and across England, UKTI teams are developing a new kind of trade mission for new and novice exporters.
Available in 2012/13 only, the Export Insight visits will give you the confidence of travelling in a group to a market with perfect opportunities for companies inexperienced in international business. Our overseas colleagues will welcome you, brief you on the market and bring in speakers to give you a flavour of what it’s really like to do business there.
A flat fee of £99 is payable but once you have got yourself to the departure point in the UK we’ll look after the rest of the group activities including travel and accommodation. We'll also work with you before you go, so you get the most benefit out of your time in market.
Almost every UKTI team is organising visits and you don’t have to go with your ‘home’ region, but to give you an idea of what’s in store UKTI North East is planning a mission to Stockholm, in Sweden from 12 to 16 March 2013.
We want to talk to companies that are serious about export but have no current track record - to find out whether you would be eligible for an Export Insight visit and to learn more about Export Week and our other programmes, call the North East International Trade Hotline on 0845 05 05 054 or email enquiries@uktinortheast.org.uk, If you're not in the North East find your local trade contacts here