Bernard Ginns: Closing the trade gap: our businesses answer the call

These businesses are heeding the Government’s call to close the trade gap and help Great Britain export its way to a full and sustained recovery.

As someone who has called for a more international perspective among Yorkshire businesses, it is a very encouraging develop-ment.

Companies should proceed with a degree of caution though as export can be full of risk.

But first, I will share with you a few examples of our companies looking beyond regional borders for new markets.

Lapicida, the Harrogate-based tile specialist, plans to expand in China and develop its American exports.

The company’s management is making the moves to take advantage of areas that still have relatively buoyant housing markets. It plans to increase its presence in New York next year and by 2013 have retail space in Shanghai.

Another Yorkshire firm to head stateside is Cranswick, the upmarket sausage maker.

It is thought to be the first British food company to gain accreditation to export food to America in more than 15 years.

The Hull-based company starts exporting its baby back ribs to the US from the end of this month.

Jim Brisby, a director, told the Yorkshire Post: “We have big ambitions for the US.”

Cranswick is also considering expansion into East Asia.

Asda, meanwhile, plans to expand its successful fashion label George into new markets in a bid to establish it as a global brand.

The Leeds-based supermarket giant hopes to open some pilot stores in the Middle East next year and expects to announce its first overseas franchising partner in the next few months.

Andy Clarke, chief executive, said: “True value for money isn’t just something on the minds of UK customers; getting the best quality at affordable prices resonates with shoppers worldwide.”

It is not just goods that can find new customers abroad. Services too can be attractive in international markets.

Bill Susinski, the head of international business at Mumbai for HSBC, told the Yorkshire Post that the Indian education sector should be high on the list for businesses in Yorkshire who were looking to find business opportunities overseas.

All good examples of the opportunities available to Yorkshire companies in new and established markets.

A reliable indicator of this increasing international tendency is the buoyancy of the region’s translation services market.

Mark Robinson, managing director of Alexika, the Ilkley-based language firm, said: “It’s a growing market because it’s easier these days for people to publish multi-lingual content on their websites.

“The competitiveness of the pound is helping Yorkshire companies to widen their horizons.

“SMEs are finding it easier to sell internationally. They are able to translate content in Yorkshire and then manage communications using translation services.”

Demand for German and French translation still dominates, unsurprisingly perhaps, given that Europe is our largest trading partner, but Mr Robinson is seeing more requests for Chinese and Russian translation.

Appetite, then, seems to be increasing for export, which is very welcome.

But at this point, I should share with you a cautionary tale to illustrate some of the dangers.

It comes from a banking contact with plenty of international experience and concerns an innovative toy manufacturer in the UK, which had a long-standing relationship with a Chinese manufacturer.

The UK business developed a prototype and asked its Chinese partner if it could manufacture it.

My contact explained: “They had been dealing with the factory for 10 years and yet someone in that factory had taken the idea, manufactured it, did it better and got it to market quicker than the prototype came back.”

Foreign partners, strategic alliances or joint ventures can help guard against this happening as can obtaining some legal protection for intellectual copyright.

Currency fluctuations can also hit businesses where it hurts when they operate overseas.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that exchange rate changes usually move against UK businesses.

Companies can adopt strategies for dealing with fluctuations such as forward contracts and currency options.

There’s plenty of support available, from professionals whose job it is to advise on international business.

There are also some fine role models in this region of internationally successful firms.