Trade chief’s export challenge
THE region’s international trade champion, Clive Drinkwater, is issuing a challenge to get more businesses exporting.
Despite record export figures for the region for 2009-10 of £25bn, Mr Drinkwater, regional director for UK Trade & Investment believes the region could do more in overseas markets.
He told TheBusinessDesk.com that his team of 40 advisers, with expertise across a range of markets and sectors are there to help.businesses for free.
“We have something like 250,000 companies in the North West, HMRC has a definition of an exporter as a company which exports more than £200,000 a year.Of this number we have just 7,500.
“I am certain there are more in the £100,000 to £200,000 bracket – probably taking us to between 15,000 and 20,000, which in this region could be much better.
“I am absolutely there are businesses in this region with high quality products and services which could do well.”
He said he is thinking about launching a formal export challenge in the region to stimulate international trade.
“It’s something I want to do, and I think we should do. This region and the country as a whole need more from exports. When you look at the drivers of growth – government spending, consumer spending, exports and investment, the first two, as we all know are under pressure, while the others are where we need to focus.”
The North West’s single biggest export market is the US, while France and Germany are also key. Trade with the fast-growing BRIC economies saw healthy growth last year, with exports to Brazil up 62% and China 28%.
Mr Drinkwater said: “The China figure is really good news – but we are building from a fairly low base, Even though we are the fifth biggest economy in the world, we’re only 12 or 13th in the league of trading nations with China.”
Although like all Government agencies UKTI has not escaped the spending cuts, there has been not been an impact on the number of advisers working on “the front line”.
“We have had to focus resources – I think we’ve lost around 15 people in support functions,” he said.
Asked about the strategy launched by UKTI, he says: “It’s more about evolution than revolution. It is putting opportunity at the heart of everything we do – we are being proactive rather than reactive, which I think makes a lot of sense in a highly competitive world.”
