Last week the Department of International Trade launched a new Export Support Service specifically designed as a helpline, targeted to join up cross government departmental information to better support businesses. The aim of the ‘one-stop shop’ is to help support SME’s navigating existing sources of information.
Some information on the site will be new, as well as repackaged as UK businesses will be able to get practical support on questions, they may have around exporting goods to Europe. The service may expand to support businesses exporting beyond Europe in the future.
How will this help?
Many businesses in ADS membership, particularly SMEs have spent a lot of time and money in recent years preparing for and implementing the new processes and requirements they face to exports goods to Europe. The hope is that this service will better support those companies and any business who is new to exporting goods to Europe, by being a single point of contact to raise a query and seek guidance.
This new export support service sits alongside DIT’s wider package of support for exporters which aims to help more UK businesses export, and export more. The service comes ahead of the upcoming launch of the government’s Export Strategy which is part of the UK government’s plan to drive economic recovery and level up the entire country.
Where can you access the service?
Businesses can access the Export Support Service by visiting www.gov.uk/ask-export-support-team and go through the question process. The site allows you to ask more than one question about exporting to Europe at a time and will provide a tailored response to each query.
DIT aims for response times to be kept within a maximum of 10 days but acknowledges that it will ultimately depend upon the complexity of the query.
There is also a dedicated phoneline that businesses can make use of to speak to a UK-based member of the export support team: of 0300 303 8955.
ADS members should continue to keep an eye on the ADS Brexit Hub which is regularly updated to keep members informed on the latest trade developments Brexit Hub – ADS Group.
