Export Growth Plan to help businesses build back better
A package of measures to help businesses in England build back better following the pandemic has been announced by the Government, which targets the South West as one of the specific regions most in need.
The allocation in the HotSW LEP area is £1.3m ERDF with £800k for the Transition of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, and £500k for the More Developed area of Somerset. The South West is one of three areas to be awarded the fund, alongside the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine.
The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) Export Growth Plan provides additional financial support and expertise. The plan includes a £38 million Internationalisation Fund for small businesses, which will help up to 7,600 SMEs in England grow their overseas trading and strengthen their business.
A package of measures to help businesses in England build back better following the pandemic has been announced by the Government, which targets the South West as one of the specific regions most in need.
The allocation in the HotSW LEP area is £1.3m ERDF with £800k for the Transition of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, and £500k for the More Developed area of Somerset. The South West is one of three areas to be awarded the fund, alongside the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine.
The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) Export Growth Plan provides additional financial support and expertise. The plan includes a £38 million Internationalisation Fund for small businesses, which will help up to 7,600 SMEs in England grow their overseas trading and strengthen their business.
Additional support for exporters will be provided by 64 new International Trade Advisors (ITAs), of which a number will be based in the Heart of the South West – many of them working closely with LEPs, enabling us to lend our expertise to small businesses.
A new pilot Export Academy will also be introduced to support smaller businesses. The Academy will deliver a series of activities to build the capabilities of smaller companies by tackling the barriers to exporting, creating a new cohort of confident businesses ready to trade.
The Export Academy are delivering a series of webinars that cover the export journey. Registration for these free events is at: www.events.great.gov.uk/ExportAcademy
Karl Tucker, Chair of the Heart of the South West LEP said: “We welcome all the support available to help our businesses re-start, revitalise and grow, as the economy in the South West has been amongst the hardest-hit due to the dependence on vulnerable sectors such as hospitality and tourism.
We know that the Heart of the South West area has high growth potential for export, so we aim to use this new Internationalisation Fund to help our businesses take up this opportunity. It’s believed the greatest barrier to exporting will be lack of knowledge, the others include attitudinal reasons, cost, access and capacity, so we welcome the new on-line Export Academy that is delivering these valuable webinars to tackle these barriers.
We are also pleased to see the Government recognising our area as having specific need, and we will continue to drive home this message to secure the necessary levels of funding in future rounds of investment.
