British businesses received £4.3 billion worth of support from the government through UK Export Finance (UKEF) in 2012-13, up from £2.3 billion in the previous year, and the highest in 12 years.

UK industries including aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, and defence have benefited from export credit guarantees and insurance on transactions ranging from as little as £4,000 to as much as £2 billion. The support has enabled UK companies to export to 58 countries across the world, from Abu Dhabi to Vietnam, illustrating the UK’s strength as a global exporter.

UKEF is the UK’s export credit agency. Its £4.3 billion of support for exports is the highest since 2000-01. Support has been provided for companies of all sizes, from the very smallest micro-firms to large corporations. This includes thousands of SMEs who have benefited indirectly through the supply chains of large customers supported by UKEF.

Minister for Trade, Lord Green, said:

UKEF plays an important role in helping boost Britain’s exports and is contributing to the healing and rebalancing of the economy.

It’s particularly pleasing to see more SMEs taking advantage of the services and products UKEF offers, and I am sure the new network of regional export finance advisers will help more SMEs seize opportunities to export next year.

Acting UKEF Chief Executive, David Havelock, said the pipeline for 2013-14 in terms of large project business is the highest for many years and short term products are gaining real traction in the SME space. In 2011 UKEF introduced new short-term products and enhanced its insurance product to assist exporters, particularly SMEs, overcome bonding and working capital constraints and get credit insurance when not available from the private market. In 2012-13 these assisted 66 exporters including 49 small and medium sized businesses, helping them win contracts worth over £500 million.

UKEF provides guarantees to banks offering loans to overseas buyers of UK goods and services and insurance to exporters against the risk of not getting paid. When banks or credit insurers are unable to provide sufficient support, UKEF can step in.

To further boost exports by SMEs, the government committed £1.5 billion in last year’s Autumn Statement to allow UKEF to launch a direct lending scheme, enabling it to support export loans to buyers of UK goods and services where funding is not available from the banks. This will be the first time in UKEF’s history it has been able to offer such support. The government also increased the budget for UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and set out an ambitious package of support designed to get more SMEs exporting.

Commenting on the announcement, the CBI said that Government must not get complacent and there is plenty of work still to do to boost the UK’s export performance to fast-growing economies. UKTI and UK Export Finance needed to do more to market their services to companies, with two-thirds of SMEs unaware of either.

The CBI has called for the Government to introduce a tax credit to help smaller firms explore overseas markets and make sure existing finance schemes are wrapped into the planned Business Bank.