Exporter finance needs at the forefront of key UK trade gathering

Exporters, financiers and government representatives gathered in Birmingham for a series of crucial addresses and discussions focused on maintaining the UK’s competitiveness within the global trade and export finance market, with the 2015 instalment of Global Trade Review’s UK Trade & Export Finance Conference at The ICC, Birmingham on June 9.

Organised with the support of organisations such as UK Export Finance, UK Trade & Investment, British Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Exports and the British Exporters Association, and enjoying commercial support from leading UK financial institutions such as Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and Santander, the conference provided the first opportunity to bring the exporter community together following this year’s general election, with meaningful engagement and discussion taking place on various topics across a range of industry sectors and geographies.

Subjects for discussion throughout the course of the day included financing facilities available to exporters, the role of SMEs in providing the oxygen for export growth, the rise of alternative finance in providing greater choice in the market, challenges faced by the mid-sized business sector, increasing usage of the insurance product, profiles of emerging markets such as Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as case studies on initiatives such as The Cole Commission and Open to Export.

Proceedings began with an extensive interview with Professor George Feiger, Executive Dean at Aston Business School, a renowned industry expert with many years’ experience across the financial sector. This was followed by the announcement of (and reflections on) the results of the International Trade Survey, the largest survey of its kind, produced by the Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE).

“This is a momentous time in the ongoing efforts to further advance the cause of UK export volumes, with an ever-evolving global trade market posing many challenges and highlighting the need for banks, government and other parties to work together to provide support for exporters,” said Jeff Ando, Associate Director and Head of Conference Production at Global Trade Review. “Initiatives such as Exporting is Great (Britain) and others have demonstrated that despite talk of an economy based around the financial services sector in London, the UK still manufactures and exports an enviable range of physical goods, from hovercraft to sausages to beer, books, bags and many other products. This event provided the opportunity to hear directly from those tasked with financing export activities, in an increasingly competitive environment,” Ando adds. “We enjoyed some lively but constructive debate.”