Lord Taylor of Warwick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Taylor of Warwick on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to help SMEs expand overseas.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Small businesses can find out what support is available to them by contacting their local Growth Hub. There are now 30 Growth Hubs across England that are bringing together local and national business support so that people can find the help they need quickly and easily. This includes referring on to UK Trade & Investment those businesses who want help and advice on how to export

UK Trade and Investment provides a range of support to help companies develop their capacity to export; that includes elements such as helping companies devise an export strategy, guide them on researching and selecting markets, and addressing language and culture barriers. UKTI also helps companies access international markets by organising a wide range of events and missions, supporting companies at overseas exhibitions and highlighting export opportunities.

UKTI supported almost 55,000 businesses in 2014/15, around 90% of which were SMEs

UK Export Finance (UKEF) also continues to support those who wish to export, including small and medium sized businesses and mid-sized businesses (MSBs)

In 2014/15 UK Export Finance provided over £2.7bn of support to help 160 exporters (129 of which were smaller businesses) win overseas contracts in over 100 markets.