In a push to enable more local businesses within Burnley and Padiham to export their products around the world, local MP Antony Higginbotham has asked the Minister for Exports what support is being made available to small and medium sized businesses to gain the confidence and knowledge to start exporting.
Speaking in the House of Commons Antony Higginbotham MP said:
In Burnley And Padiham we have world class skills and products and when we export those it’s phenomenally successful. But we know one of the things businesses struggle with is having the confidence and the knowledge to export for the first time if they’ve never done it before.
Could my right honourable friend set out what steps the Department for International Trade is taking to give businesses the support they need to export for the very first time so that we can push the Made in Burnley message even further around the world.
Responding, the Minister for Exports Graham Stuart MP said that
The Department has created the New Export Academy designed precisely in order to equip businesses with capabilities and confidence to export successfully.
The Export Academy is a free to use programme set up by the International Trade Department to give small and micro-businesses the know-how to sell to customers around the world. Delivered online it features educational events, independent learning, networking and group mentoring with the aim of allowing businesses to take their business to international customers, including the chance to join future trade missions and access grants and funding.
So far 259 businesses from the north-west have joined the SME pilot Export Academy since it began, including 15 from the Burnley area.
Commenting afterwards Antony Higginbotham MP said:
Creating more high-skill, high-wage, export linked jobs is something I’m fully committed to. I promised it at the election and it’s how we truly level up in Burnley and Padiham.
The Government is getting on with the work of signing new free trade agreements but it’s for our local businesses to exploit these. I’ll be working with them and government to ensure the right support is in place to do just that.
If you're a local business then please do visit the new Exporting Hub at www.antonyhig.co.uk/exporting for information on the schemes available, including the Export Academy.
