The StartUp Show from Enterprise Nation is rolling into King’s College London this month as SME founders can engage with over 100 speakers, a range of advisors and 2,000 other community members.
Go Exporting CEO Mike Wilson will be offering advice and answering questions too, and to celebrate our involvement, we have two free tickets to giveaway!
Watch the video below to see what the event, which takes place on 28th January, is all about:
We’re giving away two free tickets to one lucky winner which we’ll pick at random and contact by email on Friday 20th January.
To enter, leave your details using the form below.
Good luck!
On the 12th December, Go Exporting CEO Mike Wilson will be joining representatives from Deloitte, Santander and Capikooa to host a webinar with Enterprise Nation on trading overseas next year.
This webinar is perfect for any UK business wanting to start selling internationally from next year, or firms who are already exporting but are struggling (like most!) to get to grips with new customs declaration procedures.
The webinar is free to join but spaces are limited. Register on Eventbrite here.
Earlier this month we were delighted to join Business Wales for a webinar all about exporting to The Netherlands.
The Netherlands is already a top-10 trading partner of the UK, with high demand for UK goods and services.
The region also has great potential as a gateway into the EU, though the nation itself is already the 5th largest economy within the Eurozone with Rotterdam ranked as the biggest port in Europe.
Intrigued? Learn more by watching the webinar below.
View more Business Wales free webinars and resources here.
Learn more about how Go Exporting can help open a world of opportunities for your business with our international trade consultancy services.
More than half of exporting businesses within the UK say they’re unconfident with current customs documentation and procedures.
According to a poll of 330 exporters as part of an IOE&IT webinar event, just 49% said they did feel confident, whilst just 5% said they felt ‘very confident’ with their understanding of the new trading arrangement with the EU.
There was further bad news on trade with Northern Ireland too, with just 4% of attendees saying that the new Northern Ireland Protocol had benefited their business.
“Changes that have been introduced can be quite difficult to navigate”
The new rules for trade between the UK and EU, as defined by the EU_UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement in the wake of Brexit, had been hailed as a great benefit of the UK’s departure from the European Union and Single Market.
However, exporters have been faced with increased paperwork, procedural requirements, costs and delays.
And worryingly for the future of UK exports, more than half of those attending the IOE&IT webinar stated that they didn’t feel they had the knowledge to benefit from the UK’s current and future trade deals – including new free trade agreements with new and emerging markets which the government is actively working to pursue.
The issue that presents for UK firms, as well as the economy as a whole, is that export volumes may continue to decline compared to where they could have been had Brexit not have happened, as SME firms struggle to capitalise on new global opportunities for trade.
Suzanne Alecrim of the IOE&IT said of the poll results that: The changes that have been introduced can be quite difficult to navigate, so I can understand why some traders aren’t too confident.”
And confidence, as we’ve seen from the recent upheaval following the now infamous mini-budget, is critical to business, markets and economies.
What exporters can do
One of the greatest challenges to any business is successfully mitigating and growing through periods of change, and Brexit saw huge upheaval for both importing and exporting firms across all sectors. New procedures and requirements forced new ways of working, new knowledge and extra processes to upskill in – not something which every exporting firm can easily accommodate.
At Go Exporting, we’re helping businesses to adapt and thrive in the new trading arrangement with the EU through our customs and compliance reports.
What processes do you need to follow? Do you need licences or approvals? Is there any duty or quotas? Is there a Free Trade Agreement in place? Rules of Origin to consider?
Our customs and compliance report covers all aspects of your trade with a specific country or trade bloc – including the EU.
Learn more about how we can help your business grow internationally here.
We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for the Enterprise Nation Advisor Awards 2022 in the international trade category.
Enterprise Nation is a fantastic network that helps small business owners to grow their brands through freely-given expert insights, and Go Exporting CEO Mike Wilson regularly gives webinars on exporting and international trade to the network.
But now, we need your help!
To win the award, we need to gather as many votes as we can.
Can you help?
It takes just three minutes to vote for Mike and Go Exporting and you can do so here.
Thank you in advance!
I was at a conference this week all about marketing and how to expand your business. There were some truly inspirational and interesting speakers, from TV Dragons, major company CEOs, through to a performance psychologist and marketing experts.
One theme that came out time and again was the importance of planning and taking the time to work on your business, not in your business. Creating the breathing space to really focus on where you want to go and what you need to do to get there. Yet at the same time remaining agile enough to react to ever-changing market conditions. Who would have predicted a global pandemic or war in Ukraine with all their human and economic consequences?
It struck me that this is exactly the support we offer our clients on their export journey. We help them to focus on taking the right decisions; not to rush in before they are export ready, before understanding customs and compliance requirements, before evaluating their target markets and the true potential they offer, before thoroughly researching the right routes to market and local channel partners.
When confronted with the day-to-day challenges of running your business, the pressure to meet growth targets, or replace declining markets, it can be difficult to focus on making informed decisions. There is a tendency to rush in.
This is where Go Exporting can help you. We take the strain by doing the important groundwork, providing accurate information to allow you to make the right decisions on your international strategy.
With over 30 years’ experience in helping businesses just like yours to profitably expand into international markets, we have developed a range of cost-effective services which support you in the right areas along that journey.
- EXPORT READINESS ASSESSMENTS
- CUSTOMS & COMPLIANCE
- MANAGING THE BREXIT TRANSITION
- IDENTIFY & PRIORITISE MARKETS
- EXPORT STRATEGY
- FINDING DISTRIBUTORS & PARTNERS
- IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
- INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL MARKETING
These are just some examples of how we can help. Every customer is different, however, so we are flexible and work with you to achieve your objectives.
Take time out to work on your business, not in your business.
For the month of October, we are offering a limited number of FREE 30-minute consultations with our CEO Mike Wilson to discuss any aspects of your international journey you would like to raise. He will provide advice and answer your direct questions. There’s absolutely no obligation and no hard sell…. in fact, no sell at all! This is a special benefit offered to our customers and newsletter subscribers.
BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION TODAY
Limited slots available!
This month we were delighted to join Business Wales to share more advice on exporting around the world.
This time, Go Exporting CEO Mike Wilson focused on the opportunity for UK exporters in Spain, with the latest information and advice on the Spanish market and the key benefits it presents for Welsh exporters.
Watch the video in full below:
Looking for more expert exporting content? Sign-up to the Expert Exporter Resource Hub, home to all the advice, both analytical and anecdotal, you need to master exporting, spot an opportunity and learn how to ask the right questions before starting.
The British Chambers of Commerce has called out the Government for lacking Brexit business planning, resulting in UK workforce shortages.
After a weekend of fuel supply shortages and retailer Christmans warnings, the BCC made clear in a statement that businesses were suffering the consequences from excluding non-UK nationals from the UK workforce.
BCC President, Baroness Ruby McGregor Smith said that: “Government has made clear its priority is to transition from a reliance on EU workers to a focus on the domestic workforce, and businesses have been ready to participate in this, but it is a long-term project.
“A managed transition, with a plan agreed between government and business, should have been in place from the outset. Instead, the supply of EU labour was turned off with no clear roadmap as to how this transition would be managed without disruption to services and supply chains.
“Now some action has been taken, but additional testing will take time and the low number of visas offered is insufficient. Even if these short-term opportunities attract the maximum amount of people allowed under the scheme, it will not be enough to address the scale of the problem that has now developed in our supply chains. This announcement is the equivalent of throwing a thimble of water on a bonfire.
“Government should be prepared to significantly expand the number of visas issued within this scheme and convene a summit that brings business and government together to find both immediate and longer-term solutions to the many challenges facing firms throughout the UK.
“Without further action, we now face the very real prospect of serious damage to our economic recovery, stifled growth as well as another less than happy Christmas for many businesses and their customers across the country.”
Read more: Complex Rules of Origin add £600m to duty costs
BCC Co-Executive Director Hannah Essex added that: “Chambers of Commerce have been warning Government about critical labour shortages for months now – not just in the food and haulage industries but in hospitality, construction, the care sector and elsewhere in the economy. Whilst businesses will welcome that government is finally taking action, this scheme does not go far enough.
“BCC data has shown that 76% of hospitality businesses, and 82% of construction firms have faced recruitment difficulties in recent months. At the same time, we found 3 out of 4 exporters reporting no growth in sales in Q2.
“Businesses are facing the most difficult environment for a generation. On top of labour shortages – border delays, increased debt and the rising cost of materials, shipping and energy are all putting huge pressure on firms struggling to recover from the pandemic. All of these issues are hitting smaller firms the hardest.
“Attempts to address the deficit of HGV drivers and poultry workers is a step forward, but these industries are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the huge impact of the current labour shortages. Without a comprehensive plan to tackle this issue across the board we are facing a winter of lost opportunities for our businesses, hampering the UK’s economic recovery.”
If your business is still coming to terms with a post-Brexit trading environment, we can help. Our Brexit FastTrack service can quickly and affordably assess the threats to your businesses and help shine a light on the pathway forward for your organisation. Find out more here.
This month we joined Alibaba to host a webinar, supporting their client-base to grow their export sales.
The webinar was centred on our 7-steps to export success guide (which you can download here).
Watch the webinar in full below:
Make sure you check out Alibaba’s great business support content here.
A report published this month has highlighted just how vital exporting is in supporting quality jobs.
The assessment report on jobs, published from the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde, found that 23% of all UK full-time jobs in 2016 were supported by exports.
Of those FTE jobs supported by exporting activity, 58% were directly related whilst 42% were involved in supply chains of exporting industries.
The report also found that manufacturing made up the bulk of export-related jobs. Trade with the US accounted for the largest number of supported jobs at 1.3 million, whilst EU export activity occupied 2.8 million FTE workers.
The release of this report coincided with new findings from the government’s Board of Trade report, finding that during 2016, exports supported 6.5 million jobs in the UK – paying on average 7% more than the national median wage.
Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, said in her foreword for the report that: “For the first time in almost 50 years, the UK is in control of its own trade policy and we have renewed this centuries-old institution (Board of Trade) to bring together leaders in business, academia and government.
“As a nation, we have not been in a position to steer our own trade debate for generations. Now we can and I believe the Board will play a crucial role in this vital discussion.”
Read more: New Gov campaign to support UK producers export food and drink internationally
“We have a great story to tell as a trading nation, and now as we set out into our future as an independent country with the whole world as its marketplace, we will champion values-driven free trade as a force for good in the world and a driver of prosperity for every part of the United Kingdom.”
