Could trade deals provide a boost for UK SMEs?

This week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had his first face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden. The two leaders have discussed a number of topics from climate change and COP26 to the Irish border, alongside this, one of the Prime Minister’s priorities has been a potential UK-US free trade deal. While this looks some way away, there is hope that the UK could soon join the North American free trade pact, which could provide good news for the 13% of Brits that plan to start a business in 2021, according to research from IW Capital.

A deal with North America and a proposed deal with India – one of the worlds fastest growing economies – is set to increase the number of potential customers for businesses in the UK by over a billion. Already, around 160,000 VAT registered businesses in the UK export their goods and services around the world to a value of £366.5 billion. The UK government will hope that with more straightforward regulations and fewer tariffs this figure could increase significantly in the coming years.

With over 6 million SMEs in the UK, making up 99.9% of private sector businesses, thousands of firms could benefit from an increased potential customer base. It is estimated that around 9% of SMEs export some goods already, so with 800,000 new businesses started in 2020 and many more to come in 2021, could the UK be in line for an exporting boom?

Key statistics:

13% of Brits plan to start a business in 2021 (4,245,000)
16% of investors will look to back startups and small firms in 2021
58% of Brits plan to shop more with small businesses and startups in 2021
19% of UK workers who work at a small business have won large clients and grown as a business through Covid (3,687,000)
66% of Brits say that their trust in small businesses and service providers has grown during the pandemic (29,607,000)

Luke Davis, CEO of IW Capital discusses the data and the prospects for small exporters in 2021:

“The world is becoming ever more connected and interlinked, especially in the world of business and in much the same way the SMEs are becoming more trusted in the UK so will they become a big part of the global economy. Trade deals, and making it easier to export, provide a boost to firms who’s addressable market has just substantially increased.

“This desire to startup and go it alone looks set to continue in 2021 and beyond as the desire to support small firms grows from the point of view of both consumers and investors, as our research shows. This is also true of what we have seen at IW Capital, investing in a number of innovative growing businesses throughout the pandemic with the support of our investor base.

“I believe that from what we have seen SMEs will become even more important to the UK economy, both domestically and internationally. There is a huge amount of talent and ambition in Britain’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and helping them go global should be high on the government’s agenda.”