CBI and Finastra survey shows UK SMEs face significant barriers to international trade

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Jan 18, 2023, 04:10 ET

Despite the value they see in international trade, one third of respondents from UK SMEs do not trade internationally due to barriers and a lack of support
The CBI's International Trade Toolkit, developed in partnership with Finastra, aims to help UK firms across all sectors increase their international ambitions

LONDON, Jan. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Research from the CBI and Finastra, canvassing the opinions of UK small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), suggests that there's a gap between the ambition of firms to trade internationally and the reality of doing so. While just 44% of businesses surveyed currently engage in international trade, only 23% said they were not interested in doing so. One third of respondents believe there's potential value, but do not trade internationally due to perceived barriers and a lack of support.

Common barriers cited by respondents include: the impact of Brexit (23%); being too small to trade internationally (16%); and limited knowledge about international markets (15%).

To better understand current business attitudes to international trade and accessing finance, the CBI and Finastra worked with YouGov to survey over 200 financial decision makers at UK-based SMEs to gain more insight into the challenges businesses are facing, attitudes to finance and ambitions for international growth. The findings are included in the CBI's International Trade Toolkit, being launched this week, which is designed to help UK SMEs across all sectors increase their international trade ambitions.

"Our International Trade Toolkit, developed with Finastra, is designed to provide advice and guidance for SMEs, as well as helping to facilitate connections with fintech players and financial institutions that can help support such growth," explained Rain Newton Smith, CBI Chief Economist. "Our Seize the Moment strategy estimates that a new generation of SME exporters could raise around £20 billion in additional UK export revenues by 2030, and the UK's fintech sector can play a key role as a driver of productivity gains and enabler of broader economic transformation."

Additional takeaways from the survey include:

Ambitions for growth: those businesses that currently engage in international trade see opportunities for further growth, with 27% expecting to increase their imports or exports compared to only 4% of those who do not currently trade.
Sources of finance: financial institutions that businesses have an existing relationship with are the most common provider of finance (51%), although many businesses use their credit card (43%) and overdraft (28%) which are traditionally more expensive. Nearly 2 in 5 businesses have never applied for financing, suggesting more needs to be done to help them understand how finance can help them with their growth ambitions and find the option best suited to their needs.
Potential for embedded finance: With 3 in 10 respondents expressing interest in using embedded finance solutions, helping businesses understand the value embedded finance can deliver will be key to future growth. For example, ecosystems created by tech and fintech companies can support the matching of supply and demand of loans, using third-party data to provide personalized loan offers for SMEs.

"Finastra is delighted to partner with the CBI in creating the International Trade Toolkit and in helping UK businesses unlock the benefits of international trade," said Jonathan McPhail, Lead Client Partner, Banking as a Service, Finastra. "Harnessing the power of fintech solutions can help firms overcome some of the barriers to international trade and give them a competitive edge – reaping efficiency gains through process improvements in payments, finance, cash management, compliance and operations, as well as improving business development opportunities through enhanced customer propositions. The toolkit shines a spotlight on just some of these use cases as the landscape continues to evolve."

Finastra and the CBI have invited UK SMEs to join them at an event to mark the launch of the International Trade Toolkit, Winning with Fintech: International trade and accessing finance, taking place in London today, 18 January 2023.

Survey Methodology

CBI and Finastra worked with YouGov to survey 204 financial decision makers working for UK-based small and medium sized businesses with between 10 and 999 employees. The survey was conducted in September 2022.

For further information please contact:
Sarah Mason
Acting Global Head of PR, Finastra
T +44 (0)20 3100 3613
E [email protected]

CBI Press Office

Available 24 hours a day on 0207 395 8239, or email: [email protected].

About Finastra

Finastra is a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, and launched the leading open platform for innovation, FusionFabric.cloud, in 2017. It serves institutions of all sizes, providing award-winning solutions and services across Lending, Payments, Treasury & Capital Markets and Universal Banking (Retail, Digital and Commercial Banking) for banks to support direct banking relationships and grow through indirect channels, such as embedded finance and Banking as a Service. Its pioneering approach and commitment to open finance and collaboration is why it is trusted by ~8,600 institutions, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. For more information, visit finastra.com.

About the CBI

Across the UK, the CBI speaks on behalf of 190,000 businesses of all sizes and sectors. The CBI's corporate members together employ nearly 7 million people, about one third of private sector-employees. With offices in the UK as well as representation in Brussels, Washington, Beijing and Delhi, the CBI communicates the British business voice around the world.  

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SOURCE Finastra