North East Exporters Forum

Insider Media

Insider brought a group of leaders from North East businesses that trade overseas to discuss a range of issues that impact their exporting ventures. The group also provided insights and thoughts about what support is needed to strengthen it further.

Transcript

00:00Yeah, we're here at the Darlington Economic Campus for this morning's roundtable on exports.

00:16Fascinating discussion with some businesses that are exporting around the world, all based

00:21in the North East.

00:24Really good conversation.

00:25We're sponsored by Cargo Partner and supported by the Department for Business and Trade.

00:30So we're going to talk to a couple of the businesses that we're here with.

00:33Phil, explain what the airport does in terms of air freight around the world.

00:39Well, the big thing we want to showcase is that we're in the UK's first and largest

00:43regional freight group, with over 800 acres of land to develop.

00:47And clearly we're linked to, we have a multimodal corksaw link to a seaport.

00:50When you start to really put all those things together, we believe that we've got a very

00:53good compelling case, along with the surface access that we've got, the A19, the A1, so

00:58the road connectivity.

00:59When you start to put all those things in, we believe we've got a perfect opportunity

01:02to really help the UK and indeed the North East to really grow its exports and its imports.

01:07Fantastic.

01:08And there's a lot of space there for development on the sides.

01:13What's the next phase of that and what's that going to bring to the airport and for the

01:18North East?

01:19Well, we've got over 800 acres of land to develop, again, which is in the freight port.

01:22But the big thing for that is, clearly, we've started work on the business park.

01:26Eventually we see that can bring over 4,000 jobs to the region.

01:30And what can it do for the airport?

01:32Well, clearly, it's the economic regeneration, which is what the airport is all about, the

01:36jobs, the investment, the tourism, the GVA.

01:39Clearly, on top of that as well, it's revenue coming back into the airport.

01:42So for all the jobs it's creating, it's also clearly bringing in the likes of the landfill

01:46in the airport, the fuel, the parking, the cargo throughput.

01:50There's a huge, big opportunity that we really need to make sure we're working with partners

01:54such as Cargo Partners, such as Insider Media, such as the UK government, to make sure that

01:58we're really getting a hold of this opportunity to make sure people can see, if you need to

02:02export your goods from around the world, they can all start right at Teesside Airport.

02:05The cost benefits of that, and there are huge benefits beyond just the costs, aren't there?

02:11Huge benefits.

02:12And again, that's more where we want to do more about the exemptions, the tariffs, the

02:16trade exemptions, the GVA exemptions that can come with being in the Freeport, which

02:20is a big thing I really think that we need to be pushing.

02:23We need to get that message out further to make UK businesses aware to support the Freeport

02:27panel.

02:28So, Cargo Partners are a large freight forwarder.

02:31We export and import to hundreds of countries around the world.

02:35We've got 160 offices in 40 countries.

02:39So, we're here to try and help.

02:41It's great to sit here and learn and speak to new companies that are looking to start

02:48their exporting journey and see how we can help and try and pass on our expertise.

02:52We know there's a lot of regulations and a lot of challenges that these people find,

02:57and it's great to talk to them from our experience and have a general chat to see if we can help

03:03them in their export journey.

03:06And around some of the issues and challenges that businesses are facing today, you're able

03:11to help them with?

03:12Of course, yes.

03:13So, from a freight perspective, there's always challenges around the world, be it on exports

03:19and imports.

03:20We see at the moment with the Red Sea being closed, that brings its own challenges.

03:25Wars around the world can obviously have massive impacts on how freight is moved.

03:30Regulations like Brexit.

03:31I know we spoke about also CBAM today on certain different regulations.

03:37So, yeah, it's a bit of a minefield.

03:41And people go into the world of exporting thinking, you know, I'll just send it from

03:46A to B and it'll be very, well, maybe not easy, but they don't think it's going to be

03:50as hard as it is.

03:51And we're there to try and say, give them solutions that they can move in multiple different

03:56ways and different timeframes that suits them, depending on what product they ship

04:01and what their customer needs are really.

04:03So, it's a really positive, hopeful discussion today.

04:06I think there's a lot going on in the Northeast, isn't there?

04:09Yeah.

04:10And you want to work with these businesses?

04:12Of course.

04:13And our focus in 2025, as I mentioned in the conversations, is we really want to grow business

04:19moving up towards in the Northeast.

04:21We have offices in Bradford, Manchester and down in Basildon.

04:24And we really want to focus on increasing our business up in the Northeast.

04:28So, if we can help as many companies as possible, that'd be brilliant.

04:30So, talk me through the roundtable, how important it was to engage with businesses and to let

04:35them know about your services.

04:37Well, I think there are a lot of businesses in the Chase Valley that export.

04:41They don't necessarily all communicate with one another.

04:44And some of them have complementary services.

04:47So, there's two businesses that were at the roundtable this morning that have just agreed

04:52to quite an informal at this stage, but working relationship to support each other, opening

04:57doors and making contacts and with distributors and the like in the Middle East.

05:02So, I noticed people furiously taking notes as people were talking about potential collaboration

05:08plans and things like that.

05:10It's also about lessons learned.

05:12So, although we have an export champion network of seasoned export professionals that share

05:17their knowledge across the UK, any business can learn from any other exporter, the successes,

05:24the failures, the things like something falling off a truck and getting damaged, and then

05:28how you get it back through customs to get it fixed.

05:31And so, it's really important to have this networking time so that people can learn from

05:37each other and network.

05:39So, I think that's crucial.

05:41But also, holding it in the Darlington Economic Campus is really important because the purpose

05:46of this place is to break down barriers, not just within government, but for the region.

05:51We're very lucky to have it here.

05:53We've got MCHLG.

05:55We've got Office of National Statistics.

05:57We've got Innovation and Science, as well as the Department for Business and Trade.

06:02And we all talk to each other, and so we can share ideas about good practice and things

06:07like the growth mission, which is one of the government's key agenda issues, to see how

06:12we can all work and make, in particular, Tees Valley better, but also the country as a whole.

06:17So, it's really important.

06:18So, a positive message from the roundtable today.

06:20Absolutely.

06:21The businesses, I think, all raring to go.

06:24I didn't hear anybody say, oh, we're going to scale back exporting, or it's too difficult,

06:28so we're not going to bother.

06:29They were very much, yeah, we know there's challenges.

06:31We know that we can ask DBT for help to get over them.

06:35And we've got a plan.

06:37So, yeah, it was really encouraging.

06:39And such a diverse range of businesses, as well.

06:41It's really important.

06:42Excellent.

06:43Thank you, Amanda.

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Transcript

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