Clearview North January 2014 - Issue 146 | Page 72

BUSINESSNEWS

BOOST FOR EXPORTERS AND
BANKS AS UK EXPORT FINANCE
INCREASES RISK UNDERWRITTEN
The news that UK Export
Finance will increase the risk it
underwrites from 50% to 80%
across its Bond Support and
Export Working Capital schemes,
will enable banks to assist more
exporters seeking to maximise
opportunities in international
trade.
At a breakfast event at
the Institute of Directors,

representatives from a wide range
of banking organisations reacted
positively to a raft of developments
outlined by David Godfrey, Chief
Executive of UK Export Finance,
which supports small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) and
mid-market exporters by sharing
financial risks that the private sector
is unable to shoulder alone.
Since 2011, UK Export Finance,

the UK’s export credit agency, has
broadened the trade horizons of
over 120 UK-based businesses.
Backing almost £1 billion of export
contracts to over 65 markets and
with a pipeline of a further 300
transactions.
A recent NAO report forecasts
a potential £22 billion funding
gap between the level of finance
available to SMEs and the amount

‘From 50% to 80%’
they need. Mr Godfrey said:
“Exports are vital to the UK’s future
growth and we are committed
to playing our part in plugging
the finance gap to accelerate
opportunities for those with the
potential to take their business
further.

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT SECURED
TO BUILD 6,600 HOMES IN THE UK
Business Secretary Vince Cable
has welcomed a new £700
million inward investment
deal, which will be delivered
through UK company Sigma
Capital Group with backing
from international investors,
Gatehouse Bank.
The new joint venture will
enable Sigma Capital Group, a
residential and urban regeneration
specialist, to build up to 6,600
new privately rented homes

in the UK. Sites for an initial
2,000 homes have already been
identified in Liverpool and
Greater Manchester.

The deal has been facilitated
by UK Trade and Investment’s
(UKTI) Regeneration Investment
Organisation (RIO), which has
been set up to direct investors
to credible, industry-backed
development opportunities
throughout the country.
Business Secretary, Vince Cable
said: “The announcement from
Sigma Capital and Gatehouse
Bank will create thousands of
modern new homes as well

as new jobs in Liverpool and
Manchester, with similar plans in
the pipeline for other regions in
the country.”
Sigma Chief Executive Graham
Barnet said: “Underpinning
this new venture are our Local
Authority Partnerships and I
am extremely pleased that this
agreement creates the conditions
for us to help efficiently deliver
their regeneration objectives with
high quality new homes.”

TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE: GLASS
VISION APP LAUNCHED
Yorkshire-based Saint-Gobain Glass has
created an app set to be a game changer,
by altering the way interior glass is viewed.
Going by the name of Glass Vision, forget
visiting a showroom, you can now browse
different glass types wherever you are.

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JAN 2014

The Glass Vision app is an interactive tool
that helps to choose the right interior glass for
the home, office or other applications. SaintGobain has created an app that is very unique
to the industry; intuitive and easy to use, users
can see what a certain glass would look like in
the immediate surroundings thanks to a glass
simulation.
Particularly useful for architects and interior
designers, the app is an alternative to a
physical sample. Covering over 30 products
from the premium product range – SGG
DECORGLASS (traditional patterned