With this first-of-its-kind GTR+ UK publication, we diverge from our usual regional coverage to focus specifically on a country that has been dominating Europe’s trade-related headlines for the past couple of years.

As with our other GTR+ publications, working with independent economist Rebecca Harding, we bring you an in-depth data-led Trade Briefing, which examines the UK’s economic and political context, and provides a comprehensive overview of the country’s goods and service sector trade. This section also includes a short overview of the individual countries within the UK and of the sectoral picture for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Elsewhere we feature a roundtable discussion that brought together past and present winners and finalists of the GTR BExA Young Exporter of the Year award to hear from the “next generation” of UK exporters about their proudest achievements to date, and what their concerns for the future are – Brexit-related or otherwise. Their optimism is all the more remarkable in light of recent UK rating downgrades and reports on anticipated Brexit-related losses to businesses.

Our Brexit coverage is limited: in this time of great uncertainty, banks remain reticent with on-record commentary about the impact on their trade business and where the challenges and opportunities lie. Instead, we’ve cast our net further afield to investigate how Brexit will affect the rest of the world. Our contacts in Africa were keen to share their stories, and our feature article hints at the fact that a UK-EU divorce could indeed be good news for Sub-Saharan African nations.

We trust that this – and the remainder of our new suite of GTR+ publications – will be a practical tool for our readers as they prepare for the complexities ahead.