Britain can DOUBLE trade exports and show off best of British business in post-Brexit blitz, ministers vow
BRITAIN can DOUBLE its exports and show off the best of business with a groundbreaking post Brexit trade blitz, ministers vow today.
Anne Marie Trevelyan will this week unveil her landmark 12 point plan to boost sales of everything from Scotch whisky, salmon and lamb to F1 cars, jet engines and our world-leading financial services.
The new trade boss vowed to return Britain to its glory production days, where Belfast's ships, Sheffield's steel and Manchester's cotton were the envy of the world.
Ministers say that exporting firms pay more, are more productive, resilient and profitable, but many are afraid of taking the plunge or aren't sure how to go about it.
Writing for The Sun today to mark the start of the first ever International Trade Week, she says Britain has fallen behind our competitors in Germany and the Netherlands as "too many businesses fail to see themselves as potential exporters".
Just one in ten firms in England sell their products overseas, and one in 20 in Scotland.
The Trade Secretary vowed: "We know doubling our exports by helping more companies sell more products to more countries will transform the UK to a high-wage, high skill economy. So let’s do it.
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";Our plan is to deliver a world class package of support to business and then work together to exploit the new markets we are opening up with our free trade deals.
"I want to return that pride in what we do and what we sell, and turn Britain into a nation of exporters once again."
A new national advertising blitz called 'Made in the UK, Sold to the World' will launch tomorrow with a billboard campaign across the country.
And 100 events across the UK will give firms tailored support from experts to get their businesses thriving overseas.
Let's return a sense of pride to our amazing exporters
By Anne Marie Trevelyan, International Trade Secretary
MADE in the UK is a mark of quality known throughout the world.
Whether it’s a glass of Scotch, an F1 car, the latest fintech software or an episode of Doctor Who, our goods and services have never been more in demand.
So why, as a country, are we so keen to do ourselves down? As International Trade Secretary, I want to rekindle a sense of global pride in British business.
That’s why Made in the UK – Sold to the World, the campaign we’re launching today, is so important.
We know businesses that export are more productive, pay higher wages, and boost skills. Exports have the power to drive the levelling up agenda right across all four corners of the United Kingdom.
But too many businesses fail to see themselves as potential exporters. That’s why we’ve fallen so far behind our continental competitors in countries like Germany or the Netherlands. It’s not that we aren’t making things, it’s that we’re not selling them to potential buyers.
Only 1 in 10 British businesses export. In Scotland it’s 1 in 20. We know doubling our exports by helping more companies sell more products to more countries will transform the UK to a high-wage, high skill economy. So let’s do it.
Our plan is to deliver a world class package of support to business and then work together to exploit the new markets we are opening up with our free trade deals.
We all know this country’s glorious past – when ships built in Glasgow or Belfast were the pride of the oceans, when Wales’s mineral wealth powered the world, and when Sheffield steel, Stoke ceramics and Manchester cotton were watchwords of local pride.
I want to return that pride in what we do and what we sell, and turn Britain into a nation of exporters once again.