It was an opportunity for companies to share their exporting stories and also to hear about the support on offer from UKEF, which includes export credit guarantees and export insurance.
Fiona Begley, UKEF’s export finance manager for Coventry & Warwickshire, and Ed Prince, UKEF’s director of large corporates & international, were on hand to take questions and explained how they can support.
Ed said: “Exporting is a key driver of economic growth. Firms that export grow faster, hire more people, and tend to be more productive and resilient in downturns – so having the right finance and insurance in place can make the difference between winning an order and walking away.
“We’re a fully funded UK government department, strategically aligned to the Department for Business and Trade.
“There are two ways we predominantly support exporters: supporting the buyer of exports and supporting exporters themselves, from the very smallest companies to the very largest – with working capital solutions and insurance.
“We call it UK Export Finance – but export insurance is one of the key parts of what we do and it often goes unnoticed.
“Insurance can protect against insolvency or simple failure to pay, and against political, economic or administrative events outside your control – including hostilities and civil disturbance.”
Fiona said that firms should speak to their bank about enlisting the help of UKEF.
She said: “We sometimes get asked when we’re going to lend the money for firms to be able to export. We’re not a direct lender – banks provide the finance and we provide the government guarantee that helps them lend.
“We can often join a three-way conversation with the business and the bank to raise awareness that UKEF guarantees can sometimes be used in place of collateral – it depends on the lender’s appetite, but it’s a conversation worth having.
“So, it’s always worth asking your bank if UKEF can support your facility request as an exporter.”
Gurprit Singh, business engagement manager at the Chamber, said: “It was a great session with some really interesting insights from the businesses around the room.
“We were really grateful to UKEF for providing so much great information and for explaining how businesses can benefit from their support.”
For more information on UKEF go to https://www.ukexportfinance.gov.uk/
