With £7.4 billion in government assistance, British companies have been able to sell to 61 different nations in the previous year, significantly boosting employment and the UK economy.
The financial assistance given by UK Export Finance (UKEF) in 2021–22 supported 72,000 UK employment and increased the economy’s gross value by £4.3 billion, putting more money in people’s pockets and ensuring the stability of British jobs.
According to the organization’s annual statistics, which were released today, 83% of those sponsored by UKEF were outside of London and a record 81% were small and medium-sized businesses.
The £33.4 billion overall funding over the previous five years now stands at £7.4 billion, the highest amount in 14 years.
Following the epidemic, it aided in the recovery of enterprises, and it is currently assisting exporters experiencing difficulties with global supply chains made worse by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Additionally, in its first year without giving any financial assistance to international fossil fuel projects, UKEF unveiled a new purpose statement and established challenging carbon reduction goals to combat climate change.
The United Kingdom has a wealth of unrealized export potential, according to Anne-Marie Trevelyan, secretary of state for international trade. With historic trade agreements, we have already opened the door to the world, and now we are assisting enterprises in entering it.
Because of this, UK Export Finance, our nation’s export credit agency, consistently provides record-breaking support to businesses to help them expand their global exports.
Benefiting small companies
UKEF has increased its assistance to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). With more than 560 insurance and guarantee schemes provided, there were 25% more SMEs that benefited from a UKEF support program than the previous year.
81 percent of the businesses that UKEF actively supported with a scheme were SMEs, setting a new annual high.
The “game-changing” General Export Facility, a product created expressly to provide SME exporters more flexibility in accessing trade finance, served as the foundation for these achievements and unlocked approximately £250 million in working capital loans.
An additional £300 million was given to 263 UK businesses who provide the infrastructure projects that UKEF has sponsored all around the world, boosting UK exports.
These include fridges built in Norfolk sold to a hotel in Dubai, doors made in Birmingham sold to a Ghanaian airport, and vital medical supplies delivered from South Wales to Zambian hospitals.
Additionally, UKEF contributed £27 million to support importers purchasing from UK SMEs through its Standard Buyer Loan Guarantee Scheme, ensuring UK businesses receive upfront payments while foreign purchasers gain access to more lenient repayment terms.
Added emissions goals
In response to the pressing need to combat climate change, UKEF has unveiled a new mission statement that places sustainability at the core of its goals.
In its report, UKEF set additional goals to operate on a net-zero basis by 2050, including reducing absolute emissions (tCO2e) of the oil and gas sector exposure by 75% by 2030 and economic emissions intensity (tCO2e/£AAR) of the electricity sector exposure by 58% by 2030.
In keeping with its stated objective, UKEF was recently named the best export credit agency for sustainable financing in 2021, according to a ranking of ECA-backed projects conducted independently.
It comes at a time when UKEF, which in its first year supported renewable energy, healthcare, and essential infrastructure sectors with over £3.6 billion, continued to provide considerable financial support without funding foreign fossil fuel projects.
Mike Freer, Minister for Exports, continued, “UKEF’s decision to stop funding fossil fuel projects more than a year ago was a trailblazing and significant move.”
With the revised goals and mission statement we are announcing today, UKEF is now taking its support of the world’s energy transition in a new direction.
Businesses all around the UK must contribute their knowledge and talents to make this a reality, and UKEF is ready to support them as they seize these chances.
Safeguarding UK tax payers
As a self-funding department, UKEF assumes risk in order to facilitate exports and operates within a framework that has been approved by the Treasury in order to guarantee that it makes thoughtful judgments.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, UKEF has improved its product line to match the shifting demands of UK companies and promote exports, contributing £8.2 billion in support under its Temporary COVID-19 Risk Framework.
The department maintained its effective operations during this time and managed financial risk to safeguard the interests of the UK taxpayer in 2021–2022, resulting in a net profit of £324 million for the Treasury.
According to Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE, Chairman of the British Exporters Association, UK Export Finance (UKEF) is leading the ECAs in the global shift to sustainable commerce and has been a crucial source of support for exporters during the epidemic.
We at BExA are eager to collaborate with UKEF in the upcoming year to further expand and improve its products so that UK SMEs may export goods more quickly and easily.
This comes after the UK government today announced plans to remove over 100 trade barriers worth more than £20 billion in order to encourage more companies to export.