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Went: “Ultimately, the banks are gatekeepers who decide whether or not to help exporters. Government support sits alongside bank support and there can be an imbalance. We may have to enter a joint venture in Germany in order to win an overseas contract because Germany has a financial environment that is far more sympathetic to manufacturing than the UK.”
Sunderland: “UK banks can be notoriously difficult in supporting export businesses. They require a lot of information that can make it hard for exporters.”
Thomas agreed: “UK banks are still being too risk averse.” Adrian Went
Stuart Stoter thought businesses should challenge banks by telling them they will look elsewhere for support. “SMEs are looking at new areas of finance, including challenger banks, crowdfunding and peer funding,” he said.
Thomas: “We are frustrated by a lack of true ‘umbrella banking’ where you can borrow on your assets in one country to use elsewhere. We still have to borrow in other countries, which can be more expensive. And we have to duplicate all the paperwork – even if we are using the same bank in different countries.”
Towner: “Some of the issues that banks are creating have been forced on them by regulations. They have to be more cautious and that can push out SME business. Too much regulation can be a threat to business.”
Best of British
Went: “Customers want British quality and reputation but at Russian or Chinese prices. Customers will liaise with us over a long sales lead time, then compare our price against a competitor who doesn’t have the same specification as us.”
Peter Sunderland
Henley: “British quality stands very high. The Brits lead the world on consultancy work on big contracts, for example, most tenders in our sector are written around British Standards Institution (BSI) requirements. However, British industry is not always there to pick up the contracts, so we need to capitalise more on our reputation.”
Stoter: “We sometimes under-estimate our attributes like quality and honesty. British companies usually negotiate honestly and fairly – even if it is not to their advantage – and will comply with contract terms. It can be a question of confidence about selling into overseas markets. There is a cultural issue about pushing ourselves forward aggressively.”
Paperwork and policing the supply chain
Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status indicates that a company’s customs controls and procedures comply with regulations. It can help to ‘fast-track’ shipments through customs. The panel thought it wasn’t being used enough.
Stuart Stoter
Thomas: “There are issues with moving goods around Europe. If you are an AEO you can manage the process, but not enough companies are accredited, so companies may become frustrated by the customs procedures in the future.”
Sunderland: “AEOs are a good idea but the UK only has a small number. Germany has about 20 times more AEOs than the UK.”
Stoter: “I’ve been working with HM Revenue & Customs to promote AEOs, but there hasn’t been much take up, apart from freight forwarders.”
Thomas: “The next challenge I see coming is changes in anti-slavery rules. If you use a low-cost supply chain you have to understand that you might be at risk from involvement in slavery, not just bribery and corruption.”
An audience member commented: “We had a contract in Dubai with a European supplier who came to interview every staff member to check that we were not using slave labour.”
Went: “As far as anti-corruption is concerned it is good that the UK has the gold standard in the 2010 Anti-Bribery act but next time the Government spends that amount of legislative time on exporting it would be a good balance to see it invested in enabling policy rather than more constraining regulation.”
Visas and work permit costs Went: “The Government should think about what more it could do to help
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businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER 2017
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