Half of all local SME firms are now exporting

A NEW survey by accountancy firm RSM Tenon suggests 49% of Midlands SME businesses are doing business overseas – a figure much higher than previously thought.

And, just as encouraging, 26% of those small and medium-sized firms say they have plans to increase their overseas exposure this year.

The figure will be welcome news to trade organisation and to foreign secretary William Hague who last month told bosses to stop ‘complaining’ and start looking at doing business overseas.

Despite the fact that survey after survey has demonstrated that firms which export are performing much better than those that don’t, a large number of companies have stuck to what they know: the domestic market.

A recent survey of SMEs showed that only 25% of them are exporting.

RSM Tenon’s more positive figure was revealed in its Business Barometer, a quarterly survey of senior management in SME firms.

However, not all businesses have overseas markets in their focus. In the same survey 48% of Midlands companies stated that they do not have plans to export overseas.

Philip Coleman, international contact director based in RSM Tenon’s Birmingham office, said: “It is very encouraging that nearly half of all SMEs in Birmingham, and across the Midlands, are already exporting overseas – and that many have plans to do expand their operations in the future. 

“But there are many challenges. Lots are understandably concerned about the sharp devaluation of the euro and many are waiting to see what happens with the current crises in the Eurozone. But despite this, I still think there could be some really interesting opportunities for UK companies overseas.

”My advice is for businesses to look beyond the immediate crisis, and to focus instead on the long-term opportunities.”