CONTACT - Guernsey Chamber of Commerce

eason they do not export is because
their product or service does not
travel well. a significant percentage
of the respondents said that exporting
was not in their business plan.
But 12% said they faced barriers
to exporting because they did not
know how to do it; 9% said they
found it difficult to identity overseas
customers; 8% said they found it
hard to spot the opportunities, while
7% had either concerns over the
legislation and paperwork involved
or were worried about managing
payments. language and cultural
barriers were cited by less than 5%.
But of those seeing opportunities
but not yet having acted on them,
the main focus was on europe, with
25% saying they knew the markets.
Businesses employing less than
five people were less likely to export
than their larger peers. almost a fifth
of those responding to the Bcc’s
survey from this group exported.
the sector also influenced whether
a business would trade overseas,
with 51% of those in manufacturing,
engineering and construction
exporting compared with 18% in
business and professional services.
the survey found that one reason
why businesses were reluctant to
explore overseas opportunities
was the cost. Some 21% of
those currently exporting would
consider doing so if they were
given some help through free or
low cost advice on how to do it.
another 16% would do it if
the market, legal and financial
intelligence was available in one
place and 15% said training would
also help. But two thirds did state
that none of these incentives
would make a difference.
Some of those in the Bcc survey
‘Our research shows that exporters are 11.4%
more likely to survive over the medium term.
Exporting enables companies to diversify their
market base and it drives innovation.’
that did not export to europe cited
strong nationalist or protectionist
attitudes as the reason why –
particularly in Germany and France.
a second survey of 500
company directors by HSBc in
august found a ‘huge discrepancy
between perception and reality’
when it comes to doing business
overseas, said Mr Quinn.
the reality of setting up overseas
trading deals was perceived as
more costly and problematic
by potential exporters than
was actually the experience of
those that already exported.
‘in the very early stage before
they have started, language barriers,
technology, and fear of the unknown
would be high on people’s lists.
But once they take the leap those
issues disappear,’ he said.
However, he added that there are
many companies that are actively
seeking overseas markets.
‘the volume of exports we are
financing today compared with a
year ago is up 14% even though
the market is down, and the
value of the imports and exports
we are financing is up 30%.’
Mr Quinn believes that those
businesses that have diversified
overseas have weathered the
recession better than their
domestic orientated peers.
‘internationally-orientated
businesses are far better in this
recession than the headline average.’
the latest official statistics
indicate that the number of
exporters of physical goods in
the UK in the second quarter
fell by almost 2% to 50,538
compared with the year before.
Wales saw the largest percentage
increase of 3.3% to 1,398
companies, while london had
the largest decrease of all the
english regions by 6p% to 8,454.
Writing in the Sunday telegraph,
lord Davies argued that businesses
were overestimating the barriers
to trading overseas and this fear
is holding Britain back from
becoming ‘a nation of exporters’.
He said the ‘trepidation’ was based
on rational concerns about geography,
language, cultural differences
and market access barriers.
But he said these could be
overcome and that businesses
that did so were more likely
to survive and prosper.
‘our research shows that
exporters are 11.4% more likely
to survive over the medium term.
exporting enables companies to
diversify their market base and
it drives innovation,’ he said.
www.guernseychamber.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 | CONTACT | 51