Nearly 900,000 businesses missing out on opportunities to export

RESEARCH from information services company Experian has revealed the towns and industries in the UK where businesses have the right characteristics to export yet are not doing so.

Experian analysed over 40,000 UK companies currently exporting to profile their components and better understand what an exporting business looks like.

This model was then mapped across the entire UK business population to uncover which companies have many of the identified components and, therefore, have the potential to export, but are not reporting any export turnover.

 Manufacturers and wholesalers were identified as sectors that currently export more than others. Despite this, Experian’s analysis identified many more businesses within these sectors that are not exporting but have significant potential to do so. 

In particular, this includes firms that manufacture electrical equipment where almost half of the business population (44.5%) do not file any export activity yet have the components of a successful exporter. Other industries include manufacturers of household and office equipment and food and textiles.

Max Firth, UK managing director for Experian’s Business Information Services division, said: “Trading internationally contributes significantly to business and economic growth for specific regions and industries across the UK.

“When you consider that of the known exporting population, the average amount of turnover attributed to exporting is approximately 50%, the companies identified could potentially double their income capacity by exporting.