Why We Must Stand With UK Exporters

Support for exporters is support for growth. This was a founding principle behind the creation of UK Export Finance: a government department which helps our exporters win contracts, fulfil orders and get paid.

It is a principle which continues to ring true today, even as we face very different economic challenges.

That is why I am proud of UK Export Finance’s achievements over the last year in continuing to provide British businesses with support that lets them thrive in the global marketplace.

With the unveiling of its annual report, UK Export Finance (UKEF) announced that it has issued £6.5 billion of financial support and supported up to 55,000 jobs across the UK over the last year.

This is great news as a benefit for our exporters is a benefit for the UK’s economy; looking beyond individual businesses, UKEF support added £4.1 billion to our country’s economy in the last year. I am proud to say that this delivered benefits the length and breadth of the country as four-fifths of the exporters UKEF supported with its products were based outside London.

Watching Secretary of State Kemi Badenoch unveil this news at a reception with business leaders, I was struck by the fact that UKEF’s support had directly enabled more than a few of them to realise their own export ambitions.

Taking the form of guarantees, loans and export insurance, this support can represent a turning point for businesses, allowing them to grow and reach new markets in ways which would not otherwise have been possible. This is especially true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which may face greater difficulties in accessing export credit.

This is why it’s great that UKEF is putting particular emphasis on SMEs, with smaller firms accounting for 84% of the businesses that the department supported with one of its products last year. Many of the UK’s small enterprises are delivering world-class innovation which we can and we should help to reach wider markets.

Devon-born business Eco Charger, maker of the world’s first all-electric quad bike, is one example of a small British business at the forefront of the clean growth revolution. Thanks to a loan guarantee from UKEF, Eco Charger doubled the working capital it could obtain through HSBC, allowing it to speed up its manufacturing processes and grow across America, Europe and Oceania.

Support for exporters like Eco Charger also means support for innovators tackling the great challenges of our times, such as the transition towards net zero. We’re not just helping UK business access the best of the global market; we’re also helping the global market access world-leading expertise for its most transformational projects.

UKEF’s work with overseas buyers means that as you read this, UK suppliers are helping to build Turkey’s largest solar power facility and new hospitals across Côte d'Ivoire, Guyana and Angola. Thanks to UKEF backing for a £26.3 million loan announced last week, UK firms are also expected to support the reconstruction of bridges near Kyiv damaged by the illegal Russian invasion.

For everyone’s sake, no viable UK export should fail for lack of financing. Through UKEF, this country’s world-class export credit agency, we will keep on striving to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of our exporters.

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