DTI reveals South East Export Champions

Published by

Nicky Godding

Mike Lawton from Oxford Space Systems has been named one of 21 South East Export Champions by Department for International Trade (DIT).

Other Export Champions from across the region include Fiona Racher from Oxford-based risk strategy advisers Risk Decisions and Chris Craggs, from Maidenhead-based commercial kitchen company McFarlane Telfer Ltd.

Champions will encourage companies in their region to start exporting, offer practical advice on how to turn exporting ambitions into a reality and share their experiences of how DIT helped them break into new markets.

The Export Champion community, launched in March as part of the Exporting is GREAT campaign, was introduced in response to a desire from businesses to receive peer-to-peer exporting support. There are now 250 Export Champions active across England, and the Department’s ambition is to expand the programme to at least 1,000 Champions by April 2020. Their appointments come at a time when worldwide demand for British goods continues to grow. Between 2017 and 2018 exports of goods from the South East increased by 3.2% to £46.8 billion.

Marian Sudbury, Director of UK Regions at the Department for International Trade, said: “The Export Champions Community is a vital part of the government’s Export Strategy; its members will help create the culture of exporting among businesses across the country.

“Each of our Export Champions has been chosen because they’re great at exporting. Their experience of exporting gives them a unique insight and unique ability to provide the peer-to-peer support that businesses are seeking, to inform and encourage other businesses to follow their lead.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.