national drive to reduce the trade deficit would be boosted by making it easier to export to non-EU markets such as India, China, the US and Canada, business leaders have said.
It comes as a report has claimed that the “huge task” of improving the UK’s exports will require business to sit at the top table of government.
The Cole Commission report – spearheaded by Labour and Graham Cole, the chairman of helicopter manufacturer AugustaWestland – has tackled the issue of only one in five small businesses exporting overseas and not enough manufacturers.
David Mawdsley, managing director of North Walsham-based Laplace Instruments, an SME which supplies test equipment, said the government had failed to support manufacturing industries in the way it had supported city banks and financial services.