The vast majority of UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU) as an opportunity to explore and develop new trade links with other non-EU countries.
The news follows a survey of 500 SME owners and decision makers recently published by SMEweb.co.uk, which has found that the majority of small British businesses are feeling confident ahead of Brexit.
In fact, almost half (48 per cent) of firms have already increased international sales since the EU referendum in June last year, while a further 36 per cent are currently reviewing plans to upscale their export activity within the next 12 months.
80 per cent of firms now export goods or services to markets outside of the UK, while more than half claim that international trade now makes up more than ten per cent of their revenue.
21 per cent of SMEs told the survey that they want to do more businesses overseas in order to make the most of low values of sterling, with today’s weak pound making British products and services more attractive than ever to international consumers.
Meanwhile, 46 per cent of respondents said that their main reason for upscaling export activity was that they had noticed a fall in demand or sales at home in the UK.
Going forward, the majority of SMEs (63 per cent) said that they thought their business would be better off – or unaffected – once Britain leaves the EU.