Region's vibrant export drive wins high praise

Feb 11 2010 By The Journal

MORE North East companies are working to win a slice of foreign markets as the recession continues to dampen domestic demand, according to an export champion.

Susan Haird, deputy chief executive of UK Trade and Investment, said she was impressed by greater effort being put into selling overseas by companies as she toured the region yesterday.

"There are a lot of very vibrant companies up here who are interested in exporting. I see more companies who are looking at a wider range of overseas markets. The recession is pushing more companies to look harder for new markets as they see a downturn in demand and that has to be good for their longer term future," she said.

Ms Haird, who grew up in Stockton, said that she had found a strong and growing spirit of ambition and entrepreneurialism in the North East as businesses battled to bring new life to the region’s economy.

"There are a lot of entrepreneurs up here now. I find it a great place to do business. There are some really innovative companies in growth sectors," she added.

And after visiting successful exporters including Washington-based Walker Filtration, which sells 86% of its output abroad, she praised the Go Global campaign organised by The Journal and the North East Chamber of Commerce and backed by UKTI.

"It is an excellent way to encourage companies to go global. There is a need for success stories to inspire businesses to look for new markets and I am proud we are working with The Journal on this," she said.

"More and more companies are going global at an early stage now and this sort of campaign can help find new ways of building up their markets and trying something new."

Her visit came the day after the Government confirmed that the UK’s goods trade gap with the rest of the world widened to an 11-month high of £7.3bn in December. While total exports rose by 4.5% to £20.9bn, imports surged 5.2%.