The government’s efforts to “establish a culture of exporting in the UK” since 2017 have been in vain, according to official surveys showing that the number of exporters has remained largely the same.
An annual poll by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) of 3,000 businesses with revenues of more than £500,000 showed that the number of active exporters in 2022 held steady and that the proportion had changed in the past seven years only from 33 per cent to 34 per cent.
The flat performance comes despite the Department for International Trade and, from February this year, the DBT, having spent between £400 million and £500 million a year on its trade-related activity.
The exporting picture is slightly more positive when small businesses are included, the percentage of all businesses that have never exported having fallen from 71 per cent in 2015 to 59 per cent last year.
Since Britain withdrew from the European Union on 31 January, 2020, however, the percentage of all businesses saying that they had stopped exporting in the previous 12 months doubled to about 14 per cent. Asked why, 53 per cent said it was because of Brexit, followed by the impact of Covid and falling demand.
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The survey found that 13 per cent of all companies exported goods last year, 12 per cent sold services and another 4 per cent sold both.
Goods exporters were almost twice as likely to have reported their shipments falling last year than rising but services businesses were equally split.
Tina McKenzie, policy chairwoman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the findings painted a mixed picture of exporting. “As far as small businesses are concerned, excessive customs paperwork, cost burdens and supply chain and logistical issues can put overseas markets out of reach,” she said.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “If we want to grow our economy then we need to export more: it’s as simple as that.
“All of our research tells us that exporting makes firms more resilient and innovative but the problem is that many just don’t know where to start. The government knows this and is taking action but we really need to see rocket-boosters put under this effort. A first step would be to set up an exports council to really drive the UK’s overseas trade forward.”
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A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said the government was reducing red tape and better targeting its support for exporters. “Our strategy is working: we hit £815 billion exports in 2022 and we plan to go further this year,” he said.
