According to the ACCA´s report, as the Government enters the final months of Brexit preparations, it’s more imperative than ever that UK small businesses utilise available support and finance to internationalise.
Growing globally, a report from ACCA surveyed small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and accounting practices around the world - and found that a quarter of UK small businesses are not currently participating in international trade.
“Internationalisation can potentially bring a range of growth benefits for both a small business and the broader economy, whilst also driving productivity. This is just one of the reasons that providing the required support for UK small businesses to successfully enter international markets has been such a major priority in Brexit preparations,” explained Ben Baruch, head of SME policy at ACCA.
“It is positive to see that UK small businesses are more likely to export internationally (64%) than their counterparts in Malaysia and major trading hub Singapore (both 43%) – perhaps this has been helped by recent government efforts like the Department of International Trade’s Exporting is Great initiative.
“However, it is clear that more can be done to support UK small business, with more than a quarter not participating at all in international trade, and only two thirds (69%) intending to increase their international trade activities in the coming years – a low percentage compared to other countries like Ireland (84%), Malaysia (77%) and Singapore (76%).”
The report identified that the most significant barriers preventing UK SMEs from participating in international trade is knowledge and understanding of foreign regulations (45%) and foreign customs duties/ tariffs (30%). Identifying customers in international markets (26%) and foreign exchange (26%) also represented significant challenges to small businesses.
“It’s imperative that UK policymakers find ways to address this problem in the coming months if UK businesses are to remain competitive in the global market after we exit the European Union,” added Baruch.
“Almost half (46%) of our small business respondents said that they would benefit from more information and support on international trade, and only 6% said that they intended to access external export finance – perhaps indicating a need to increase awareness around relevant UK Export Finance initiatives.
Full press release
Full report
© ACCA - Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
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