News

As the world becomes more interconnected, international trade continues to increase in importance. Greater global competition means greater choice with potentially less margin, meaning it’s not enough to continue to play it safe in ‘your own back garden’. All businesses, regardless of size, need to rise to the challenges of the global marketplace.

In order to grow, local businesses can no longer stand still. Export-led growth is essential to the development of the Northern Ireland economy, with overseas trade holding the key to growth for many businesses.

Business owners must be innovative and proactive in developing their business, making sure their offering meets their customer needs whilst taking initiatives to maximise new markets and opportunities.

According to the recent Export Matters report*, Northern Ireland is not producing as much wealth per worker as most other UK regions, yet exporting could be part of the solution to this issue. According to the report, research has shown that there are positive relationships between exporting and higher levels of innovation and skills, with exporters tending to be larger, more innovative, more productive and able to pay higher salaries for skilled staff. Exporting opens up opportunities to increase turnover, reduce unit costs through increased volume and product life cycles. It provides an opportunity to spread the risk of a small, potentially saturated customer base by opening up into new marketplaces.

Yet with exporting come challenges.

It can be complex setting up in nondomestic markets. The continued evolution of technology means markets are more accessible to customers and competitors. In essence this can lead to businesses having to compete to meet more aggressive targets with less resources, time and experience. If businesses have not fully researched new markets, they may not be ready to address regulatory, financial and commercial barriers or challenges with culture and language that may not apply when operating in their domestic marketplace.

We can help.

At CavanaghKelly, we actively support and encourage our clients to grow and develop their business both locally and internationally. Getting access to finance and funding, particularly for export, can prove challenging to businesses regardless of size and what stage of growth they are at. Many sources of funding for export are available. Our dedicated team has the knowledge and experience to assist businesses to raise appropriate finance, helping them to grow and explore new markets. We provide support to tackle the most common financial barriers including access to working capital, risk of non-payment and availability of funding for overseas buyers. We support businesses with job costings and ongoing reviews of jobs versus budget, helping to ensure clients know the margins, can identify billable over-runs and ensure business is performing as expected.

A business strategy with a clear export focus is essential. We assist clients with their export strategy from development to implementation, addressing the complex and challenging conditions that come with moving into new markets. We stay close to the changing market conditions and we work with exporters in Northern Ireland to ensure they have the export finance advice they need.

Our experienced team of Chartered Tax Advisors have extensive expertise and experience of international business issues such as exchange rates, duties and levies raised on goods and services exported, rate of VAT. The import and export of goods and services can give rise to financial and other issues, but can also create opportunities to reduce the overall tax within an international structure.