North West goes global with continued support for exporters

The NWDA announced in December funding worth £4.9 million over the next three years to continue to back UKTI North West as it helps the region’s businesses compete on the global stage. The funding will provide enlarged trade support to help businesses in the Northwest to trade internationally and will form one of the major delivery projects of the Northwest Internationalisation Strategy which will be launched in 2008. UK Trade & Investment in the North West is a key contributor to achieving the vision for economic growth set out in UKTI’s five year strategy and the Northwest Development Agency’s Regional Economic Strategy (RES). This additional support will dovetail existing UKTI trade programmes with the specific aim of focusing on the regions priority sectors identified in the RES. Last year the region increased its exports by 24% to an all time high of £24 billion, and UKTI hope to help North West companies maintain that growth with a range of services to help everyone from new and inexperienced exporters to high growth research and development companies. Research commissioned by UKTI shows that companies who export tend to have higher productivity and innovation levels than non-exporters, and are 11% more likely to survive in the long term. On average firms new to international trade experience a 34% increase in productivity during the year they start exporting. Mark Hughes, executive director for enterprise & skills for the NWDA, said: “We need more Northwest business to compete on the global stage and grow their operations to help grow the region’s economy. This project will work closely with the regional cluster organisations, particularly on supporting sector missions and will also work closely with Business Link Northwest as the regions gateway to business support.” The streamlined set-up replaces the various sub-regional offices that previously delivered UKTI’s services, working with all 16 Chambers of Commerce in the North West to give coverage from Crewe to Carlisle. A team of International Trade Advisers (ITAs) are available to give professional help with all aspects of international trade, and each ITA has responsibility for a specialist sector so that they can offer greater opportunities to businesses by developing close links with appropriate partner organisations and integrating with Regional Cluster Organisations and International Sector Groups. Popular schemes such as Passport to Export, the flagship programme for new and inexperienced exporters, the Export Market Research Service (EMRS), Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) and Export Communications Reviews (ECR) will continue to be available. The NWDA funding will also continue to support the programme of International Meet the Buyer activities over the course of the next two and a half years. This innovative scheme has so far generated over £20 million worth of business for the region, reaching over 400 North West companies and over 200 foreign buyers. In addition, UKTI are offering a comprehensive programme of overseas market visits and incoming trade delegations, as well as help with more ambitious projects such as setting up joint ventures with help from the Strategic Alliance Service (SAS), which was pioneered in Manchester and has recently grown to include all companies in the North West.