Incentivise small firms to export and give Britain a £10bn boost, Reeves urged

Rachel Reeves has been urged to make it easier for small businesses to sell abroad in what could be a boost of nearly £10billion for Britain.

Business lobby group Walpole – which represents hundreds of luxury firms including Burberry and Aston Martin – wants an incentive introduced to encourage UK firms to export.

Chief executive Helen Brocklebank wrote to the Chancellor this month, saying companies need aid to help with ‘the first few costly years of operation in a new market’.

If 70,000 more small and medium-sized businesses started to export goods, this would represent a £9.3billion boost to the economy, the group said, citing figures from the Social Market Foundation think-tank.

Brocklebank said: ‘If the Government is to deliver on its objective of being the fastest growing country in the G7, it must support these businesses.’

She called for tax incentives which would help companies in Walpole’s ‘brands of tomorrow’ programme. 

The scheme includes bridal retailer Gigi & Olive, which supplied a veil for Sophie Habboo’s wedding to fellow Made In Chelsea star Jamie Laing last year.

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