International Trade
International Business Hub
In Brief
Critical information on the future of exports from the UK will be under the spotlight at a British Chambers summit in London in October. And members are being given the opportunity to apply for free tickets through Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC). This year’s International Trade Summit will take place at ‘
etc.venues’, Bishopsgate, on 18 October. The event will give delegates practical
advice, invaluable resources and the contacts needed to grow their business and begin the next step of their export journey. Speakers will include Gerry McGovern, chief
design officer, Land Rover; Baroness Rona Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Department for International Trade (DIT); Nina Schick director of data and polling, Rasmussen Global and Shannon Diett, vice president of marketing, DHL Express. Russell Jeans, chief operating officer at the
GBCC, said: “Whatever stage of the export journey you are at, the BCC’s International Trade Summit is the event that will help businesses to the next level. “And with all of the uncertainty around
Brexit and whether there will be a deal or not makes this Summit even more critical for exporters and potential exporters.”
Business across the West Midlands are being urged to apply for a specialist funding stream that aims to help them export for the first time or expand their overseas markets. The West Midlands SME International
Growth Project (SME IGP), funded via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), has approved 220 grants since January 2017, providing match-funded grants worth more than £500,000. SMEs (small-medium sized enterprises) have
just eight months left to apply for a grant, with the deadline set for applications on 31 March 2019. Walsall-based Earthbound, a manufacturer
and distributor of high-quality pet bedding, blankets, dog coats, toys and accessories, received £3,000 in match-funding to enable it to attend the major Zoomark trade fair in Bologna, Italy. “You need to do a lot of business to cover
the costs of any show so having the ERDF funding was a real help for a company of our size,” said David Higgins, UK sales manager. “There are a lot of big players in this
industry so we’re having to work hard to get our products and our name noticed. We wouldn’t have done Zoomark if it wasn’t for the ERDF funding.” The fair was a huge success for the
company, which picked up £47,000 worth of business from a customer in Ireland, as well as a further £30,000 orders from retailers in another Spain, France and Italy.
32 CHAMBERLINK October 2018
UK firms should remember that Europe will still be open for business after Brexit, whether a deal is reached with the EU or not, says the Chamber. The Chamber’s international team has
reminded businesses that trading terms will remain the same until Brexit happens, whether that is next March, or December 2020. However, Rupi Nandra, head of the Chamber’s
international programmes team, said: “The EU is currently the largest trading bloc in the world, with external trade constituting 12 per cent of the world’s total in both goods and services.
‘Britain will still have a place in Europe, even in the case of a hard Brexit’
“Even if we revert to World Trade Organisation
rules, the EU will likely remain our largest individual trading partner for a long time to come. Britain will still have a place in Europe, even in the case of a hard Brexit. “There are concrete efforts that have been
made to try and alleviate some of the worries that businesses may have – although the bulk of this will come when the Government continues to release its ‘technical notices’ giving specific advice to certain areas of the economy in the event of a no-deal scenario. “Fortunately, it looks like we are headed towards
a deal, and it seems likely that until December 2020 and the end of the transition period, that nothing much is going to change – panic over.
Rupi Nandra: Let’s continue to play ball with Europe “But if it looks as though we are headed
towards a no-deal scenario, it will be time to start preparing for this eventuality. A business’ first action should be to re-read the technical notices that the Government has released, to see if they relate to what they do – if not, they should get in contact with the Chamber to see how we can help. “With Europe being the dominant export
market for the west Midlands it is imperative for businesses to solidify current training contracts while ensuring that they remain competitive. With the support available from the International Business Hub businesses have access to the most up-to-date information possible.”
Barclays’ trade centre is opened
Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion Baroness Fairhead (pictured) has opened Barclays’ new Trade Centre, which will help UK businesses to export more of their goods and services. Staffed by 30 export and trade
product specialists, the new centre will work to boost jobs and economic growth, enabling British businesses to start exporting sooner or to sell even more of their products in domestic and overseas markets. The announcement is a great example of the
private sector support that DIT are promoting as part of their new Export Strategy, this is part of a commitment to better signpost all support that
is available to British companies. The strategy also sets out the Government’s ambition to raise exports as a percentage of GDP from 30 to 35 per cent. The Birmingham-based team has
already started to help a number of businesses with their export activity. Baroness Fairhead said: “Time and again we have seen the boost that exporting gives to UK businesses. By selling their goods and services around the world, companies can increase profits,
employ more workers and create businesses which endure longer. That is why our new Export Strategy aims to increase the substance, availability and awareness of export support.”
T: 0121 450 4205 E:
ibh@birmingham-chamber.com
Europe will still be open for business
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