LEAD FEATURE
STATE OF THE NATION
account for more than a quarter of global GDP. And they are growing rapidly. But rather than deter smaller companies, the size of those emerging markets presents UK companies with an unparalleled opportunity when growth in more mature markets is slowing. One in two ambitious companies is now devoting more of its attention to markets outside the EU and US, according to UK Trade & Investment’s research, Discovering high growth: how UK SMEs are breaking into high growth markets. Susan Haird, deputy chief executive at UK Trade & Investment, says: “Most economists agree that the biggest story of the 21st century will be the shift in the economic centre of gravity from the developed world to high-growth markets such as China, India and Brazil.” She now receives more requests for
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help from companies seeking to export to these high-growth emerging markets than to developed countries. Some 48 per cent of exporters already trade with high-growth countries, according to the research, but another 32 per cent are considering joining them within two years. However, the study shows fi rms gain
more than the extra revenue from foreign sales: selling into new markets causes companies to innovate as they become
12 | springboard |
www.ukti.gov.uk
he BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – are already home to 40 per cent of the world’s population and
exposed to new ideas and seek new solutions for different environments. Solarglide is a Northumberland fi rm making blinds for ships. By starting to sell to Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam last year, it increased its turnover by around 35 per cent. But commercial director Paul Pringle admits: “Every time we take a trip to a new market we get to talk to customers about the products and get lots of ideas on how to improve them. A customer in Singapore commented that the blind shut too quickly on release: this led us to adding a decelerator to all our products. “Overseas customers are also asking us for solar-powered blinds. None of these adaptations have been very costly but they have helped us build relationships in markets such as South East Asia. We hope to build on these and also venture into markets such as China and Germany.”
BORN GLOBAL Many internationalised fi rms experience a ‘virtuous circle’ where exporting leads to new innovation and where those innovations then lead to further exporting, says UK Trade & Investment. More than half of all fi rms surveyed said a new product or service evolved because of their business overseas. The research also reveals that one in six new companies are now ‘born global’ – doing business overseas from the day
With new and emerging markets becoming ever more competitive, Dominic Midgley reports
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