64 INTERNATIONAL TRADE


PLAYING A SUPPORTING ROLE


THE EXPORT SUPPORTERS:


John Lucy - Road Haulage Association Paul Walters - North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce Phil Leigh - RTC North Onelia Angelosanto - EY Miranda Barker - East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce


Paul Walters, North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce


For the new exporter the biggest issue is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of how they approach international trade.


Our job at the chamber, along with our colleagues at DiT, is to take that pain away and explain that if you take simple steps, then moving into international markets is the way to grow your business.


We can take them through the process and help them understand it. It may be a worry about dealing with currencies or different languages or dealing with different business cultures.


Some of our smaller companies are a lot more innovative in looking at international markets. We need to encourage them to do that more and help them. We should be looking at what these companies need.


Smaller exporters don’t have the resources other companies do. We need to ask what we can do to encourage them.


British products are highly regarded internationally, and people will pay that premium for a British product.


John Lucy, Road Haulage Association


With the new requirements from customs following the end of the EU transition period we saw a very challenging 10-11 weeks of trade.


The balance of trade between Ireland and the UK fell, because many companies in England just didn’t understand or prepare correctly for those upcoming requirements.


We saw 70-80 per cent of trailers going back across to Ireland empty. The situation is starting to ease now. IT systems have also been a problem.


In terms of the North West, the biggest winner in all this is the port of Heysham. Its traffic figures are up 27.7 per cent at the moment.


This trend will continue, because ports like Heysham and their location near the M62 corridor means they are perfectly placed to take up the shift in supply chains as trade moves away from the southern ports.


Customs requirement are here to stay. There were always going to be challenges and these challenges will remain for some time to come.


Onelia Angelosanto, EY


When it comes to exporting to Europe, business have firstly had to look at their supply chain to understand the impact of the new rules.


Duty impact and non-tariff barriers are the areas that are going to lead to potential delays in the supply chain.


Missing documentation may mean goods are stuck at the port. It is what you need to do to overcome that.


Secondly it is about mitigation and potential savings, looking at that free trade agreement we have. It is looking at the complexity of the rules of origin and seeing, as a UK


Phil Leigh, RTC North


We help companies get ready for their innovation journey and it is important that we work with them to look at their market readiness.


We look at strategy, their ambitions, where they want to get to. Are they looking at international markets? Are they looking to export? Can we get them ready for that?


We take them through the innovation process and will look at the internal capacity of these companies.


It is not just about products; everything is about the people underneath and the skills.


We look at all these areas and how that innovation will fit into a global market.


Then there are collaboration opportunities. Collaboration is in itself innovation, and we need to think about that.


We have some world-class universities in Lancashire that across them offer many collaborative opportunities. They work internationally and have international students.


In the service sector it is about looking at the innovative, digital platforms that might offer something to the wider world and how we can get that out there.


exporter, where my goods originate from for duty purposes, so my customers can get that low rate and I can be attractive to new customers.


Those are the kinds of challenges we have been looking at with our clients, looking at the whole supply chain flow so they can be commercially attractive to the end customer. We have the analytical tools to help support them.


Miranda Barker, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce


The desire for clarity and certainty, that is the biggest issue when it comes to Europe.


Experienced exporters have seen shipments held up because of documentation difficulties and a lack of understanding at the ports. We need to get to the point where we can get rid of these temporary difficulties.


But we have longer term issues. There is an unfair playing field with Europe, and it will become even worse as conditions change and duties are imposed in both directions.


This is bad for UK business and we need that unfair playing field removing so we can capitalise on opportunities. Adding another layer of expense is damaging the UK’s competitiveness and it is an issue that needs some top-level action.


Lancashire has a strong track record in international trade, including smaller companies.


There is a global market for low carbon technologies that is there for us to take advantage of, we need to think about that.


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