P2P firm welcomes UK drive to become “21st century exporting superpower”
THE UK government’s ambition to make Britain a “21st century exporting superpower” has been welcomed by peer-to-peer business lender ThinCats.
In a speech later on Tuesday, international trade secretary Liam Fox will spell out the government’s post-Brexit plans.
Fox will say he wants exports as a proportion of UK GDP to rise from 30 per cent to 35 per cent.
“ThinCats welcomes the government’s ambition to increase UK exports as a percentage of GDP but who knows whether we should be aiming for 35 per cent, 40 per cent or even higher,” said John Mould (pictured), chief executive of ThinCats.
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“Whatever flavour of Brexit we end up with, it is a massive wake-up call to UK businesses to wean themselves off the cheap labour sources of the past and invest in the people and technology that will improve the UK’s productivity.
“If the government can stimulate more investment to improve productivity this will have the most impact on lifting our international competitiveness and export performance.”
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Last year exports of goods and services from the UK rose to a record high of £620bn.
However, the Confederation of British Industry estimates that that in every region of the country there are around 10 per cent of businesses that could export but are not doing so.
And the Federation of Small Businesses said more financial incentives, such as grants and “export vouchers”, were needed.
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