U.K., Oct. 23 -- UK Parliament issued the following news:
The Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee today launches an inquiry into the Government’s export support services, examining whether they provide British businesses with the advice, finance and overseas connections they need to win customers in international markets.
Inquiry: UK export support services
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The inquiry will examine services provided by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and UK Export Finance, especially support for small and medium-sized businesses.
It will examine whether support reaches the firms that need it, whether resources are properly targeted at the UK’s key growth markets and whether businesses are getting practical help to use the UK’s trade agreements.
The Government’s 2025 Trade Strategy promised reforms including bringing SME services into a new Business Growth Service, expanding UK Export Finance’s capacity to £80 billion and changing the overseas trade network. The Committee will examine whether these commitments are delivering results and whether the Government’s export targets provide a clear basis for accountability.
Over the past two years, the Committee has heard from hundreds of businesses through its annual growth priorities roadshows. Worrying numbers had never heard of key parts of the Government’s export support offer. The Committee’s third annual roadshow, themed “Growth in every postcode”, begins on Monday, bringing another 100 businesses to Parliament.
Chair comment
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Committee, said:
“The new trade deals signed by Government are a big step forward. But deals on paper won’t create growth in every postcode unless business can turn a national trade deal into sales, profits and jobs.
“If firms cannot get the advice, finance and overseas connections they need, opportunities to win sales and create jobs are lost.
“Our inquiry will examine whether the Government’s export support is reaching the right businesses and delivering results. We want to hear directly from firms about what works, where the system falls short and what must change.”
Written evidence
The Committee invites written evidence from businesses with experience of seeking or using export support, alongside trade bodies, finance providers and other organisations able to assess how effectively the system works.
Written evidence should be submitted by Friday 13 November 2026, addressing any or all of the following questions:
How have exports by SMEs performed in recent years, and what are the main drivers of that performance?
What export support services do the Department and UK Export Finance provide?
What standard of support does each provide to UK firms seeking to export?
What additional support has been required since 2016?
Are export support resources deployed in the right places, supporting the right priorities and exporters? What should the Department stop supporting, and how might any resulting gaps best be filled?
How else could export support in the UK be improved?
What best practice in export support could the UK learn from other countries?
Which UK partner organisations should the Department and UK Export Finance work more closely with to improve export support?
Are the Government’s export targets and export support targets appropriate and achievable? How should they be amended?
How are export targets constructed, and how should the process for setting targets and priorities be improved?
How should the Government monitor the implementation of trade agreements and maximise their use by businesses?
Further information
About Parliament: Select committees
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Business Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
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