British Allied Trade Federation

The Chancellor’s 2015 Budget has been announced – with a £12.5m package for 2015/16 to unlock new opportunities for UK businesses, boost exports and increase investment. This will build on the assistance UKTI has provided to over 50,000 businesses in the last 12 months.

The additional funding includes £7.5m to boost UKTI presence in China and grow trade and investment – focusing on investment opportunities for UK firms in: advanced manufacturing; creative industries and education; energy and infrastructure; financial services; and healthcare and life sciences sectors.

The budget also includes £5m funding to drive growth, create jobs and attract investment for infrastructure in cities in the north of England. It is designed to cover three specific initiatives:

• a series of ‘Northern Powerhouse’ trade missions from Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. This will encourage cities in the north of England to collaborate and capitalise on overseas export opportunities
• support for the International Festival for Business (IFB) in Liverpool in 2016 (building on the success of the 2014 IFB that UKTI supported)
• a High-Speed Rail Regeneration and Investment Summit to focus overseas investment on opportunities created in the north and in Birmingham around HS2

Dominic Jermey, UKTI CEO said:

“UKTI is already on target to help 50,000 of the UK’s most entrepreneurial businesses export in 2015. With the additional £12.5 million from the Budget we will strengthen UKTI’s offering in China to support even more UK businesses exporting to a country where our trade in goods has more than doubled since 2010.

“As importantly, we will be running a series of new trade missions focused on innovative companies from cities in the north of England which will support £250 million of new business. This will complement another stunning International Festival of Business next year in Liverpool.”

How this will impact British Jewellery & Giftware International members we are yet to see, we will keep members updated as UKTI take forward their plans.