Export Support Services

Oral Answers to Questions — Business, Innovation and Skills – in the House of Commons at 9:30 am on 20 November 2014.

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Photo of Henry Smith Henry Smith Conservative, Crawley 9:30, 20 November 2014

What steps he is taking to raise awareness among businesses of export support services.

Photo of Matthew Hancock Matthew Hancock Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), Minister of State for Portsmouth, The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change

United Kingdom Trade & Investment uses the brilliant “Exporting is GREAT” marketing campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of exporting and to encourage small businesses to export. Last week was UKTI’s national exporting week. Over 150 UKTI trade officers from posts around the world provided export advice to more than 5,000 companies.

Photo of Henry Smith Henry Smith Conservative, Crawley

Since this Government came to office, UKTI has done a lot to support companies in my constituency to export, but what specific assistance can be given to the smallest firms, such as the members of Crawley federation of small businesses, to give them the confidence to make the most of lucrative export markets?

Photo of Matthew Hancock Matthew Hancock Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), Minister of State for Portsmouth, The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend about the goal of making sure that exports are done not only by big multinationals but by small businesses wherever they can. Some 89% of UKTI customers are small and medium-sized enterprises and nearly one in five is new to exporting or has been exporting for less than a year. I think we should do all we can to encourage this trend.