UK economy and workers have benefited from the government export credit agency’s highest level of business since 2020.

Hundreds of UK businesses benefited from £8.8 billion in support underwritten by UK Export Finance (UKEF) in the financial year 2023/24.

As the UK government’s export credit agency, UKEF provides loans, guarantees and insurance to help businesses sell their products around the world.

UKEF’s support in the last financial year enabled 650 UK companies to win or deliver export contracts last year – an average of almost two businesses securing crucial export financing every day of the year.

It is estimated that the UKEF-backed activity of these businesses and their suppliers contributes up to £3.3 billion towards UK GDP and supports up to 41,000 FTE jobs. 

Over half of the businesses supported by UKEF were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), something enabled by the agency’s work making its trade finance products more accessible. Last year, for example, UKEF increased the value and tenor of financing which it could automatically approve for lenders signed up to select guarantee schemes.

80% of those small businesses which UKEF supported with a product were based outside of London, demonstrating the department’s commitment to delivering growth opportunities across the United Kingdom.

Two guarantee products launched by UKEF in recent years have also continued to help exporters secure financing which might otherwise be out of reach:

• The Export Development Guarantee helped companies like SeAH Wind UK and UK-listed PLC Trifast to unlock large loan facilities supporting investment and jobs. Thanks in part to UKEF support, SeAH is now building one of the world’s largest factories to support construction of wind turbines, whilst Trifast, a manufacturer of industrial fastenings, will be able to open a 75,000 square foot distribution centre in the Midlands.  

• The General Export Facility (GEF) unlocked over £575 million in financial support for UK businesses in 2023/24: a record for the product. Last year, UKEF expanded the range of lenders which could offer financing backed by a GEF guarantee.

UKEF’s international impact was also supported by a commitment to sustainable financing. Last year, UKEF became the first ECA to offer climate-resilient debt clauses, which help small-island developing states and low-income countries respond to climate shocks by pausing sovereign debt repayments. In December 2023, UKEF also became a founding member of the Net Zero Export Credit Alliance – a coalition of ECAs aiming to decarbonise export finance.

While much of UKEF’s financing is not specific to individual export contracts, it did support a high volume of contract-specific business with African buyers (£1.3 billion), followed by the Middle East (£419.5 million) and Indo-Pacific (£376 million), reflecting the strong trade links between these regions and the UK.

In April, UKEF launched its new 2024-29 Business Plan, which includes ambitious targets for increasing the size, scope and impact of its support by 2029. The department is aiming to support over 1,000 small and medium enterprises a year by the end of the decade.