Insider Media Limited

The latest figures on West Midlands exports released by HM Revenue and Customs make for interesting reading.

They show that West Midlands exports of goods increased by 25.5 per cent - the highest percentage rise in the English regions - to £16,735m for the year ending September 2010.

Doug Mahoney, UK Trade & Investment's international trade director for the West Midlands, was quick to pounce on such positive news (and who can blame him given that we’ve been feeding on scraps for the last year or so).

He said: "These figures prove that companies from this region have the world class products and technology to succeed in today's global marketplace. The increase is particularly impressive, given the tough economic climate.”

Absolutely right, although as a region with a big manufacturing base we do tend to be towards the top of the export table generally and it would be disingenuous to ignore the role favourable exchange rates have played here. But let’s not split hairs.

Mahoney goes on to say that UKTI believes there is a huge amount of untapped potential in the West Midlands and many more firms could be growing their business by reaching new markets.

I couldn’t agree more and the work that the likes of UKTI are doing in this regard is extremely valuable. Getting SMEs to engage is the big issue here.

As Mahoney points out “small companies in particular can be put off by the 'fear factor' - the cost in time and money of finding new overseas clients, travelling abroad, cultural and logistical issues, language barriers, and, most importantly, when and how they will get paid”.

A feature we’re running in the February issue of Insider deals with some of these fears in detail and also outlines how risk can be reduced via tapping into the expertise and experience of insurers and professional advisers. Of course this stuff isn’t free and individual SMEs will have to weigh up the risk and return when embarking on overseas ventures.

But UKTI is at hand to advise before you even put a toe in the water. International trade advisers, located in chambers of commerce across the region, can provide support through programmes such as Passport to Export for new exporters and Gateway to Global Growth for more experienced exporters.

"We can also provide tailored market research through our global network of commercial officers located in British embassies and consulates and financial support for companies to exhibit their products at international trade shows,” Mahoney says.

Much of what we do as a business to business publisher is to provide advice to SMEs - or more accurately to act as a conduit for experts to provide that advice - across a wide range of subject areas. It is always gratifying when we can bang the drum for something - such as knowledge transfer partnerships or research and development grants - that seems like a genuinely good idea and that is about improving the regional economy. I think export advice offered to SMEs by UKTI is in this category.

Not being a business owner I can only imagine how difficult it must be to see the bigger picture when day to day activities are the main priority. But anyone who has set up a business is by nature a risk taker. After a period of hunkering down, this may be a year for living (slightly) more dangerously.

Comments? Andy Coyne, Insider