UK manufacturing given £3.5bn export support from Government

UK Export Finance (UKEF) has published its annual report and accounts, showing it has provided support worth over £3 billion to exporters in the manufacturing industry.

UKEF provided £49 million worth of support for Darlington-based firm Cleveland Bridge to construct 250 bridges for rural Sri Lankan communities. This project has been designed to accelerate Sri Lanka’s development through improvements in its rural transport infrastructure.

Families and businesses will benefit directly from the project, which will reduce the distance people need to travel to reach essential services such as healthcare and education, as well as bringing rural communities closer together by cutting transport costs and improve access to markets.

UKEF also supported an Airbus Defence and Space UK contract with Turksat, the Turkish communications satellite operator. Airbus will manufacture and deliver, in orbit, two telecom satellites and a ground station, which will be essential for the continued provision of TV and data services in Turkey and the wider region. UKEF is providing a guarantee to support a loan of $325 million to the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance to enable the purchase.

UKEF’s annual report and accounts show the department has had a landmark year, providing £6.8 billion in support for UK exports. Analysis shows that these exports have supported an estimated 47,000 UK full time jobs as demand for British goods across the globe continues to grow.

The report reveals UKEF has supported 181 companies' exports to 72 countries. 79% of these companies were SMEs. A further 81 UK companies secured business by supplying to a project supported by UKEF.

During the year UKEF supported its largest ever transaction, providing a £5 billion package to support BAE Systems’ and MBDA UK’s contract with the government of Qatar.

It also connected more than 300 companies with opportunities on overseas projects, and provided over £600 million in support for projects in sub-Saharan Africa as the Government looks to boost trade links between the UK and African countries.

UKEF www.great.gov.uk/get-finance