LONDON: International trading continues to be a key, strategic growth strategy for UK businesses as well as all stakeholders in the UK economy. It is important that businesses look to explore opportunities around exporting as, managed correctly, it can be hugely beneficial to their long-term growth aspirations. Studies have shown that companies that export are able to achieve growth that would not otherwise have been possible, and that they are also more resilient than their purely domestic counterparts.
By not having all of their eggs in one basket, companies that operate internationally are over 11% more likely to survive. It has also been shown that companies that export become over a third more productive in the first year alone.
For ambitious businesses who are looking to grow, exporting can be a great tool to achieve this. Research commissioned by Santander at the start of 2015 found, for instance, that highly ambitious businesses were more likely to be actively trading internationally: 56% stated they already trade internationally versus half (50%) for all firms; and a quarter (23%) said they will look to expand further into international markets in 2015 against a fifth (20%) of all businesses.
The importance of exporting and developing strong international trading links to both UK companies and the wider UK economy is clear. The UK has long been central to the global economy and benefits from established trading relationships with most of the world’s significant economies and blocs.
Interestingly, however, the UK’s key trading partners are shifting in significance. Analysis of official government data from the ONS by Santander Corporate & Commercial found that for 2014, UK exports to China grew 12% to £13.9 billion, resulting in China displacing Belgium & Luxembourg as the sixth most-significant export market for the UK. Exports to Hong Kong, counted separately by the ONS, increased 11% to £6.3 billion – meaning that exports to China and Hong Kong were worth a combined £20.1 billion in 2014, more than France (£18.9 billion) or the Republic of Ireland (£18.6 billion).
The US, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Ireland remain top five most significant markets, with UK goods totalling £129 billion exported in 2014, of which £36.9 billion, nearly 13% of all exports, went to the US. Even though exports to Germany were up 4% year-on-year to £31 billion, the study showed that overall exports to the top five economies were down 5.7% from £137 billion in 2013.
