The British Exporters Association (BExA), an independent national trade association representing the interests of the exporting community, has appointed Carl Hunter as its new chairman, effective immediately.

He takes over from Marcus Dolman of Rolls-Royce and Geoffrey de Mowbray of Dints International, who have led BExA as co-chairs since 2016, covering large corporates and micro, small and medium enterprises respectively. They remain as vice-presidents on the BExA council.

Hunter, who has been a BExA council member and head of government relations for the past three years, is the CEO of Coltraco Ultrasonics, a designer and manufacturer of ultrasonic instrumentation and constant monitoring systems.

The London-headquartered exporter has won two Queens Awards for Enterprise for international trade over the last three years.

In recent years, Hunter has also acted as a thematic working group member and advisor for the UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT).

Speaking at a BExA event in May, Hunter said he would support DIT in helping UK businesses maximise the country’s strengths as the sixth-largest exporter of goods and second-largest for services globally, and to grow the domestic green and technology sectors.

He also said the association will look to assist DIT and UK Export Finance in their efforts to tilt the country’s export strategy towards the Indo-Pacific, a region projected to account for 56% of global economic growth by the year 2050.