Home  Latest News Scots SMEs “missing a trick” on exports
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Scots SMEs “missing a trick” on exports |
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Only one in three of Scotland's small and medium sized companies are exporting, and few of the others have plans to change that, a poll has found.
A fifth of SMEs surveyed by the Bank of Scotland said language barriers were among the biggest obstacles to exporting.
The recent disruption from volcanic ash is seen as another reason for not planning to look for markets overseas.
One of the bank's directors said such companies were "missing a trick". Donald Kerr said: "While exporting may have traditionally been seen as only suitable to companies in industries such as manufacturing, firms operating in other sectors have the opportunity to explore new markets and assess international demand for their products.
"At a time when demand is subdued, thousands of small firms could still benefit from markets overseas.
"Although traditional markets in Europe and the US will remain the main targets for most firms, there is real potential across the Middle East and Asia, which is as yet untapped."
However, more than two in five companies reported that a fear of demand was the main reason for not looking to markets overseas.
The same proportion feared their bad debts would not be paid, and almost as many feared foreign currency fluctuations.
The survey found that of the third of companies that were exporting, more than one in three have experienced growth in that part of their business. Few of them expected the export share of business to fall.
Of those companies that were exporting from Scotland, almost a quarter hoped to build business in China and the Far East, and almost a fifth saw opportunities in Africa and the Middle East, while Europe and North America remained the dominant markets.
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