INDUSTRYNEWS
SURVEY WARNS OF THREAT TO UK
EXPORTS IF BRITAIN LEAVES EU
Businesses have highlighted concerns about the threat to UK
exports if the UK breaks away from the European Union.
These are among the findings
of this year’s International
Trade Survey, commissioned by
The Institute of Export (IOE),
conducted by Trade and Export
Finance (TAEFL) and sponsored
by AIG.
The survey highlighted that
although 72% of UK companies
are more confident about business
prospects in 2014 than in 2013
(up from 59% 12 months ago),
almost 50% regard continued
EU membership as critical to
their business, up from 45% last
year. This figure rises to 58%
for businesses with a turnover of
more than £10 million.
Launched in Westminster, this
is the fifth year that the IOE has
commissioned the survey – the
largest independent survey of its
kind which captures the views of
2,800 companies.
IOE Director General Lesley
Batchelor says: “The UK
government has set a target to
raise the level of exports to £1
trillion by 2020. Encouragingly,
the survey findings show that
69% of UK businesses expect
to increase their dependency on
exports over the next five years
but there is a real concern that
UK exports are not rising fast
enough to meet the government’s
target.
“UK exports reached £304
billion last year – up fro