The Department acknowledged that “agreements are only as good as the businesses that utilise them”.39 It told us that its new export strategy, published in November 2021, had been informed by our previous report on support for exporters, and that a particular focus of the new strategy was on supporting small businesses to export.40 For example, it said as a result of our report it was working more closely with UK Export Finance which is focusing more on small and medium-sized enterprises (SME...

The Department acknowledged that “agreements are only as good as the businesses that utilise them”.39 It told us that its new export strategy, published in November 2021, had been informed by our previous report on support for exporters, and that a particular focus of the new strategy was on supporting small businesses to export.40 For example, it said as a result of our report it was working more closely with UK Export Finance which is focusing more on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the work that it does.41 The Department’s new export strategy includes a 12-point plan to encourage UK exports and it explained to us that the big Type: conclusion | Number: 16 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 3.2 The department will write within 12 months on this recommendation. DIT is already helping businesses take advantage of trade agreements and market openings and is committed to further improving its offer. The department will write to set out how this is being