Mayor of London Boris Johnson hit the headlines this week when he told reporters in China that British companies were being fashionably late to the party when it came to the business opportunities offered by the Chinese marketplace.
But figures published by Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce show that the value of the export documents it processed in the three months to September 2013 were up 38.35% compared to the same period the previous year. This shows that businesses in Cambridgeshire are already recognising the opportunities abroad and exports are growing at a rapid rate.
John Bridge OBE, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “Companies that base themselves in Cambridgeshire often seem to be more innovative and forward-thinking than others across the UK and as a result have always been at the forefront of capitalising on the opportunities offered by the global marketplace. We are really excited to find increasing numbers of companies coming to the Chamber for international trade advice, training and export documentation as they take the first steps towards trading overseas.”
However the figures also show that it continues to be existing exporters that are continuing to benefit rather than new ones, as the number of documents has only increased by eight per cent compared to the 38 per cent increase in the value of those exports.
John Bridge continued: “This just shows that there are opportunities there and the global marketplace is hungry for the goods and services the UK has to offer, we just need to continue to open the doors for companies to take advantage of them. There are very few companies that hold no potential for trading internationally – as one of our members said at an event just last week, he can just as easily email documents to a client in London as he can in Japan.”
The Chamber actively encourages businesses to explore new marketplaces with regular seminars from its International Sector, flying in experts on economies around the world and connecting them with would-be exporters. The next market on the agenda is Australia and guest speakers representing the Australian Government Trade Organisation, the state of Victoria and UKTI in Australia will all be sharing their knowledge on how to exploit this buoyant market at an event at Huntingdon Racecourse on Wednesday 23 October.
To find out more please visit www.cambridgeshirechamber.co.uk or call Helen Bosett on 01223 209815.
Figures
Value of export documentation processed by Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce
| July 2013 | £28,860,390 | July 2012 | £21,884,217 | +31.7% |
| August 2013 | £46,359,464 | August 2012 | £23,671,703 | +95.84% |
| September 2013 | £25,942,243 | September 2012 | £27,566,833 | -5.9% |
Number of export documents processed by Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce
| July 2013 | 1221 | July 2012 | 1067 | +14.4% |
| August 2013 | 1017 | August 2012 | 998 | +1.9% |
| September 2013 | 1001 | September 2012 | 934 | +7.1% |
______________________________________________________