International Trade Minister, , today launched a new ‘Market
Finder’ tool to help British businesses export their good and
services abroad.
The online service is part of an ongoing partnership between
Google and the Department for International Trade’s campaign to
boost British exports, which rose by 13.1% in the year to
August 2017, and were worth more than £595 billion to the UK
economy.
While there is huge demand for UK goods and services, small
businesses often face difficulties exporting. In a recent Google
survey, 70% of SMEs said they lacked the right insights to find
the best markets, and over 35% saw logistics and recruitment as
key hurdles to exporting.
Market Finder will help small and medium businesses overcome
these barriers and take advantage of overseas markets to sell
their products. The online tool will analyse a range of data,
from market trends to online product searches, and create a
shortlist of potential new markets for businesses to export into.
The tool will work seamlessly with the Department for
International Trade’s existing great.gov.uk platform,
part of the ‘Exporting is GREAT’ campaign, which matches
exporters of all sizes with opportunities and the advice and
support they need.
was joined at the event by Ronan
Harris, Google UK Managing Director, David Sneddon, Google
Managing Director for Global Exports, from the Federation of
Small Businesses and Swati Dhingra of the London School of
Economics, to discuss how online platforms can boost UK exports.
Speaking at the launch, International Trade Minister said:
“This new tool will marry Google’s technical expertise and my
department’s export support to help British businesses go global.
Today, 3.7 billion people are online around the
globe1, so every business, no matter how small, should
be going digital to reach new customers around the world.
“The new Market Finder tool is just one part of the huge range of
support we offer as an international economic department, so
British companies can seize on exporting opportunities and make
the UK a global trading nation.”
Google UK Managing Director, Ronan Harris said:
"The success of UK SMEs is integral to maintaining our position
as one of the world's leading digital economies. Last year,
exports added on average £287,000 to SME revenues so we're
excited to partner with the Department for International Trade
for the launch of Market Finder, which will empower SMEs to
explore these new opportunities in the global market."
Businesses looking to identify new markets for export can access
the Market Finder here, or
visit great.gov.uk to
view live export opportunities.
1 https://marketfinder.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en_gb/article/about-market-finder/#fn:1
