By Jacqui Miller-Charlton MBE
Although many parts of the economy have recovered since the recession and most UK companies large, medium and small are enjoying a return to profit, British exports remain stubbornly static. So, what to do?
As a seasoned exporter with over 20 years’ experience at the helm of our own family business – Miller International Ltd. In North East England where we design and manufacture buckets, quick hitch couplers and attachments for construction machinery and export worldwide – it is my belief that if a current strategy and or message isn’t working then change it! After all, if we keep doing what we have always done, then we will keep getting the same results.
It is time for a rethink and although change can sometimes lead us down a path that is unfamiliar and full of uncertainty, it can also produce results that lead us to the success we set out to achieve. The Cole commission’s An Action Plan For Business, a report written by business for business released today explores new ideas and lists targeted actions to assist Brand Britain in her quest for increased exports. It reviews current methods of available support nationwide and provides in part some radical suggestions for change that are in my view entirely necessary if we are to unlock British businesses true potential and get more companies, across all industry sectors, exporting their products and services.
If we can manage single digit increases through export then we can help strengthen the economy that much faster. We can no longer, in my view, afford to ignore this important area of business growth if we want to retain our seat at the table of international trade in the future. It is essential that we act and act now. The report that has been 8 months in the making and includes the ideas of hundreds of businesses, those currently exporting and those that would like to do so and is the review our country needed to get Britain exporting. I am therefore calling on government to back the recommendations set out within the Cole Commissions An Action Plan For Business and unlock our country’s true export potential.
