Growth Street: SMEs let down by lack of export guidance

BRITAIN’S small- and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being let down by a lack of guidance on how to start exporting, Growth Street has claimed.

The peer-to-peer business lender said that the lack of information could potentially block any post-Brexit ambitions despite a booming global economy.

The platform surveyed more than 1,100 UK firms and found 65 per cent are unhappy with official guidance on how to begin exporting.

Another 70 per cent of the businesses have never looked anywhere other than their bank for funding, while under a quarter of businesses surveyed stated that they had a good understanding of the finance options available to them from outside their bank.

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“Despite much talk about the potential to increase exports in a post-Brexit Britain, our research shows that businesses have been let down by the government to date,” Greg Carter, chief executive of Growth Street, said on Wednesday.

“Businesses looking to export are dissatisfied with the guidance available to them. Meanwhile, although banks are failing to satisfy their customers, 70 per cent of our survey respondents have never looked outside their bank for funding.

“Something has to change if British businesses are going to take advantage of a future outside the EU.”

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