The UK government is stepping up to promote exports, but is it doing enough?

With Brexit looming, British policymakers have launched a range of initiatives to support the country’s exporters. In August, the department for international trade (DIT) published its export strategy, setting out its ambition to increase exports as a proportion of GDP and produce “more tailored support” to UK companies.

This was followed by the news in October that the country’s export credit agency UK Export Finance (UKEF) – as part of the government’s Autumn 2018 budget – will have its direct lending capacity increased by £2bn in the years after Brexit.

One of the companies benefitting from this support is Clarke Energy, an international specialist in gas-based power generation. It recently took part in Theresa May’s three-day trade mission to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

But there are also challenges in working with the government to expand globally, explains Alex Marshall, Clarke Energy’s group marketing and compliance director. Reporting from the GTR Africa Trade & Infrastructure Finance Conference 2018, Sanne Wass speaks to Marshall about the importance of government support and how it could be improved.