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Foreword

The past few years have seen a huge amount of change in the UK’s trade status and policy – from leaving the EU Single Market to establishing a series of forward-looking trade agreements and introducing new border systems and processes. These developments have engendered a huge amount of change for UK firms, the impact of which is felt most strongly by those with the fewest resources to adapt to substantial modifications to their way of doing business.

Against the backdrop of fluctuating business confidence however, the data gathered by FSB for this report shows consistently high appetite and ambitions for growth within the UK’s SME community – particularly among microbusinesses and those at the beginning of their business journey. Unlocking the export potential of these firms will accelerate their development and resilience at company level and contribute to the UK’s overall economic growth and productivity. The contribution of the smallest firms must not be overlooked or undervalued.

Now, as the new Government develops plans for long-term growth and productivity, is the right time to step up efforts to help small businesses overcome the hurdles that block their route to exporting success. The forthcoming trade strategy and small business Command Paper, both due in 2025, must be aligned in their commitment to growing and scaling the UK's vibrant small businesses both at home and overseas.

Whilst there is a significant amount of government export support on offer, many SMEs told us that they are not aware of how they could benefit or find existing offerings difficult to navigate. Small businesses are fiercely independent – they neither expect, nor want, government to do everything for them – but targeted support at the right time could make the difference between a small business taking their first step into new markets or turning down overseas sales.

With changes to the way existing resources are communicated and delivered, government could reach many more businesses that have the potential and appetite to grow overseas. Lowering the turnover threshold for bespoke support, for example, or simply better cross-referencing between government’s own websites would go a long way towards raising SME awareness of the programmes available.

I am greatly encouraged by how many of the smallest businesses express interest in exploring the opportunities of international trade. With the right support these businesses can be enabled to begin exporting for the first time or to increase their reach into overseas markets. The decisive result of this year’s General Election presents a golden opportunity to deliver small business growth, with trade at the heart of policy. Building on FSB’s construction engagement with the new Government ministers during their period in Opposition, including through the SME Export Taskforce, I look forward to continuing collaboration to help the UK’s SMEs achieve their ambitions.

Recommendations

Commit to trade and export support policy that supports SMEs

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade should:

• Convene a senior Exports Council, chaired by the Secretary of State, of business groups representing all sectors of the economy to give more, long-term strategic planning to SME exporting.

The Department for Business and Trade should:

• Take a ‘think small first’ approach to export support and set new export targets that focus on SME growth, moving away from an overall value target, including growing the number of SME exporters to 20% by 2030.
• Publish a clear timeline for business consultation when developing the trade strategy. This should include evidence sessions with SMEs, particularly ethnic minority-owned businesses.

The Office for National Statistics should:

• Publish an updated paper outlining progress made against the recommendations in its 2021 report Exploration of options to source data on the ethnicity of business owners to better enable policymakers to deliver export support that nurtures and champions the export strength of ethnic minority-owned businesses.

Empower more SMEs and start-ups to consider international trade from day one

The Department for Business and Trade should:

• Work with partners to improve include references to exporting in early-stage and start-up business resources and deliver better cross-referencing and signposting between government programmes.
• Reduce the turnover threshold for one-to-one support to £400,000 and develop new one-to-one services for early-stage SMEs.

Streamline and facilitate SME access to export support

The Department for Business and Trade should:

• Integrate GREAT.gov.uk content under the Help to Grow umbrella to create a single business growth support hub.

• Expand the number of in-country attachés for high-growth sectors in priority markets and facilitate business contact with in-market resources.
• Require International Trade Advisors to hold a qualification from an accredited customs training provider or equivalent professional experience and explore restructuring the network to allow SMEs greater choice in working with sector- or market-specialists.

Deliver dedicated financial support for SME exporters

The Exports Minister should:

• Request an annual public report on progress made by UKEF toward the target of supporting 1,000 small businesses a year by 2029. The report should identify and propose solutions to close gaps in UKEF’s provision for SMEs.

The Department for Business and Trade should:

• Deliver an export development grant scheme modelled on Australian and Canadian funding programmes that allows microbusinesses to claim up to £2,000 per year for a defined range of business development activities.
• Set up an Export Support Service Advisory Group comprising relevant business organisations such as FSB that can help promote ESS resources to their members, finesse the service and inform ESS development via feedback from businesses.

UK Export Finance should:

• Renew the 2023 Partnership Agreement with DBT to reflect the export targets of the new government and to prioritise cross-departmental working in the development and delivery of export finance to SMEs.
• Establish a working group comprised of SMEs, the banking sector and non-bank financial institutions to report on the development of more suitable products for SMEs dealing in lower-value shipments.

Support efforts across the UK’s nations and regions to grow SME exports:

England

The Department for Business and Trade should:

• At the forthcoming Spending Review in 2025, establish Business England to coordinate business support delivery in England, working with the directly elected Mayors. This would make it easier for SMEs to navigate the support available to them while enabling delivery to remain with local authorities.

Northern Ireland

The Department for Business and Trade should:

• Step up efforts to promote the unique Dual Market Access that Northern Ireland possesses as a result of the Windsor Framework. DBT should further develop its pitch to international investors to highlight the opportunity that establishing in Northern Ireland can provide, so that these FDI businesses then fast-track growth in UK exports.

• Guarantee equivalence of export support services to Northern Ireland businesses, with sufficient capacity within the local DBT team to implement them.
• Increase capacity of the DBT team in Northern Ireland, especially by the addition of International Trade Advisors.

Scotland

Scottish Government should:

• Publish annual progress towards the Scottish Government’s goal of growing exports to twenty-five per cent of GDP by 2029 and identify where further work is needed.
• Deliver the sector export plans for sectors where Scotland has a comparative advantage and potential for high growth working in partnership with business, enterprise agencies and in-market resources such as Scottish Trade and Investment Envoys.

The Department for Business and Trade should:

• Honouring a government commitment to deploy International Trade Advisors network in Scotland.

Wales

Welsh Government should:

• Deliver an updated International Strategy for Wales to follow directly on from when the current strategy ends in 2025. The new strategy should build on the 2020-2025 strategy, with the objective of growing export readiness of Welsh SMEs and improving SME access to overseas markets. The strategy should take into account the findings of the November 2024 inquiry by the Senedd Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee.
• Establish a new arms-length body International Wales to coordinate and deliver a strong international brand for Wales
• Deliver a single dashboard for export support to increase transparency and accessibility. 

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