Lack of knowledge hampers exports, says survey
Less than 27 per cent of Birmingham businesses export their goods and services, figures released today reveal. According to a survey by the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, many businesses in the region do not export because of their lack of knowledge about overseas trade and the range of support available to them.
More than 67 per cent of the businesses surveyed said they did not export because their products or services were not suitable.
Chamber president, Christine Braddock, said that there is a “large amount of potential” for Birmingham businesses if certain obstacles can be overcome.
She said: “They are very well placed and already compete on a global scale. However, we are losing out on additional business due to a general lack of knowledge about international trade and how to access international trade support.”
Of the companies which said they had never exported abroad, 10 per cent said they had limited knowledge of the commercial aspects of exporting, 10.7 per cent blamed a difficulty in finding customers and 20.3 per cent cite sufficient UK business.
Of the Birmingham-based businesses who do export, 85 per cent of them trade with EU member states.
A further 53 per cent export to Africa and 41.1 per cent export to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. Equipment and machinery make up Birmingham’s largest type of exports accounting for 29.4 per cent while consumer goods and business/customer services account for 23.5 per cent of our exports each.
