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the centre follows the Barclays’ Midlands Growth Fund, a £370
million lending fund for SMEs across the Midlands to boost
jobs and growth
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new report reveals the characteristics of ‘superstar’
exporters – to further improve support for UK businesses
Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion opened Barclays’ new
trade centre on Monday 3rd September, dedicated to helping over
1000 UK businesses to export more of their goods and services
each year.
Staffed by 30 export and trade product specialists, the new
centre will work to boost jobs and economic growth, enabling
British businesses to start exporting sooner, or sell even more
of their products in domestic and overseas markets.
The announcement is a great example of the private sector support
that the Department for International Trade (DIT) is promoting as
part of their new Export Strategy. This is part of a commitment
to better signpost all support available to British companies.
The strategy also sets out the government’s ambition to raise
exports as a percentage of GDP from 30% to 35%.
A raft of measures, including the roll out of thousands of Export
Champions, increased awareness raising of the £50 billion of
finance available from UK Export
Finance and a boost to the number of export
opportunities listed on GREAT.gov.uk were also
announced as part of the strategy.
The Birmingham-based team has already started to help a number of
British businesses with their export activity into markets such
as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, across Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, as well as Far Eastern markets such as China, South
Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Minister of State for the Department for International Trade,
, said:
Time and again we have seen the boost that exporting gives to
UK businesses. By selling their goods and services around the
world, companies can increase profits, employ more workers and
create businesses which endure longer.
That is why our new Export Strategy aims to increase the
substance, availability and awareness of export support.
I am therefore delighted to be opening Barclays’ new trade
centre today, and would encourage businesses up and down the
country to make the most of the team’s expertise.
Jes Staley, Barclays Group CEO, said:
From manufacturing to agriculture, retail to digital, we are
helping more UK businesses sell their goods and services to
more people around the world. This trade centre is our latest
initiative to make it easier for UK businesses to find their
way in overseas markets, by providing the right finance, and
all-important advice and guidance.
New research we have commissioned on this important subject,
published today with the Policy Institute at King’s College
London, shows that one important way to boost UK exports is to
create more ‘superstar exporters’, or UK firms who export 10 or
more products to 10 or more overseas markets. Helping these
businesses to export more in turn helps smaller firms in their
supply chain to grow, and to create jobs. Helping firms to
become superstar exporters can deliver wider benefits to the UK
economy and Barclays is determined to play its part.
The key findings from the report are:
- superstar exporters support smaller firms to export through
their supply chains
- non-manufacturing production sectors are weakly represented
in terms of access to trade support
- export growth associated with DIT support
appears to arise mainly from access to more overseas markets
- overseas trade missions can increase the likelihood that
firms start and continue exporting to a new market
- firms receiving trade support are unevenly distributed across
the country
DIT will
consider the recommendations in the report as part of the
department’s commitment to listen to voices from across the
business community with regards to trade and export support.
