Autumn Statement 2014: Small business handed £45m boost to export to fast-emerging markets
The Chancellor today announced a £45 million boost to help small businesses export their goods and services beyond the crisis-ridden eurozone and the US.
George Osborne said some of the UK’s 4.9 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would receive the cash to help them to export to fast-growing economies in Asia, Africa and South America.
He also extended the Funding for Lending scheme for a further year and announced that small businesses’ rate relief will rise for another 12 months. That means high street shops, pubs and cafes with a rateable value of between £12,000 and £50,000 will receive a £1500 rates rebate, up from £1000.
The export announcement came days after Antonio Horta-Osorio, the boss of Lloyds Banking Group, said smaller businesses must be more “outward looking” if they are to drive economic growth. He told a CBI conference that there remains “untapped potential” across the country, and that “rebalancing the UK economy will require businesses to be ambitious in seeking new export markets.”
Research by the Federation of Small Businesses found that £792 million could be added to the UK’s economy each year if more SMEs began to export their products.
The Government has an ambitious target to get 100,000 new businesses exporting by 2020, potentially adding £5.6 billion to the economy.
