Member Article

North West businesses challenged to find one new export market to ramp up region's economy

Clive Drinkwater, Regional Director of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) North West, has issued a new challenge to North West businesses, following another successful Export Week, which saw the UKTI North West team reach 400 businesses with free events exploring opportunities in markets from Africa and Europe to Southern Asia and Japan.

The fourth national Export Week saw UKTI team up with business leaders across the country to encourage companies to make the most of their overseas potential.

In March, Clive Drinkwater announced that for the second year running, the region’s businesses helped UKTI achieve the target of finding 1,000 new exporters in the North West – and to build on that success, Mr Drinkwater has now issued a follow-on challenge, asking existing exporters to make this the year that they expand into at least one new market.

He said: “I have been inspired by the companies I met during Export Week and the businesses I visited. I have travelled around the region participating in events in Salford, Kendal, Liverpool, Blackburn and Crewe and heard from a series of distinguished speakers on the benefits of growing your business through exports.

“I have also visited a number of impressive businesses who have been achieving success through exports including Studio Sky Lab in Trafford Park, Lumier Ltd in Barrow in Furness and What More in Blackburn, and have been very impressed by the quality and diversity of businesses in the region.

“I am delighted that in the weeks before Export Week we once again achieved our target of creating 1,000 new exporters in the North West, and I now want to encourage those businesses and other exporters to reach out to new markets.

“If every current exporter in the region achieves this, we could increase the GDP in the North West by an estimated £2 billion, significantly aiding economic recovery and giving a boost to our competitiveness as a region.

“I have said it before and I will keep on saying it – businesses that export are, on average, 34% more productive, 75% more innovative, undertake three times as much R&D and are 12% more resilient than businesses that do not, and I believe that an assessment of exporting potential should feature in all businesses’ plans for 2014.

“Export opportunities should always be borne in mind for future growth. The UK has only 0.8% of world population. It is my intention to make 2014 the year when we take on the other 99.2%!”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .