East Midlands businesses joined representatives from UK Export Finance (UKEF) for a Navigating Global Growth: Export Finance Unlocked roundtable on 3 March at East Midlands Chamber’s Chesterfield head office.
Delivered by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and UKEF, the event raised awareness of support available to firms seeking to grow through exporting.
The roundtable – part of a UK-wide series – focused on four key areas:
- Trade outlook and export plans – identifying opportunities, barriers and risks to international trade prospects and how UKEF and East Midlands Chamber can help exporters pursue strategic growth.
- Export finance as a growth enabler – optimising use of finance at every stage of the export journey to boost competitiveness and bid for larger contracts with confidence.
- De-risking through practical support – how UKEF helps UK exporters protect cash flow, manage exposure, and pursue new markets.
- Bank lending commitments – an overview of the recently announced £11 bn lending package from the UK’s five leading banks to boost business growth, especially for small and mid-sized enterprises.
Carl Williamson, Director of SME and Trade Finance at UKEF, chaired the session, took questions and outlined the scope of support available. He said: “We’re here to try and support where a business wants to grow through exporting and develop opportunities overseas.
“The roundtable showed me there is real ambition to export more, but some firms aren’t sure who to speak to and what the opportunities are.
“The key message is: talk to the Chamber, talk to UK Export Finance. Your local export finance managers can help you explore export opportunities, assess financing needs and connect you with the right people in your target markets.
“There is a lot of support out there – it’s about all about tapping into it.”
Attendee Luke Mulligan, Managing Director at Filigree Group, added: “For me it was important to attend and listen to other businesses and their experiences. Some were quite advanced in exporting so I’ll be looking to get some tips on how to start that process.
“I’d heard of UK Export Finance but didn’t know much so I learnt more about that and I think that will ultimately be useful but for me the focus is first steps, establishing what the market looks like, contacts, how to get into that market, then probably coming back to UK Export Finance and how that can support us.
“With international trade the biggest barrier is bureaucracy, in just getting to the customer. It’s become much more complicated and expensive.”
Recent examples of East Midlands businesses supported by UKEF include Northamptonshire’s Pallite Group, a designer and manufacturer of sustainable warehouse storage. The firm secured a £1.6 million corporate facility from KBC Bank, guaranteed by UKEF’s General Export Facility – a product that unlocks flexible finance for growing exporters. With this support, Pallite will meet rising demand from international markets across Europe, the US, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
For more information on export support, businesses can contact East Midlands Chamber or UKEF’s local Export Finance Managers.
