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Accelerate your exports

Government-backed finance from UK Export Finance can help you reach new international markets.

  • Aquamare Marine conquers Florida and triples its revenue

    Plymouth-based company Aquamare Marine began as a service business for luxury yacht builders in Plymouth and across Europe before expanding into Florida and building boats itself.

    The company initially struggled in the US due to local regulations, which made it hard for foreign-owned companies to get financing and even operate in the area.

    The team turned to UK Export Finance and the General Export Facility to secure financing in the US via their bank, Santander. Through the General Export Facility, UKEF provides a guarantee of up to 80 per cent of a facility limit, which means that banks can offer larger lending facilities.

    Thanks to the new facilities, the company tripled its revenue, then doubled it again, expanding its workforce from 20 to 140 people.

    Read more at the Telegraph.

  • Fourth Element dives into worldwide markets and grows its sales

    Cornwall-based Fourth Element started trading in 2001. It now sells clothing and equipment for scuba diving, swimming and freediving in 1,600 shops in 59 countries.

    “At the beginning of 2021, we recognised that we were seeing big demand, but our suppliers had lead times going through the roof. A lot of our competitors stopped ordering: we didn’t. We realised in 2022 that we needed to increase production to meet demand. So we approached our bank, HSBC, to facilitate the purchase of more stock,” says Fourth Element’s director of finance Christian Rossetti.

    UKEF’s support was crucial at this point, enabling them to make a leap into exporting far more products. “We asked HSBC for a considerable step up in our trade loan facility.” HSBC suggested using UKEF’s General Export Facility to increase the amount they could borrow.

    In the following year, exports to the US boomed, Rossetti says, with sales growing 62 per cent. Exports to the rest of the world rose 91 per cent, leading the company’s revenue to grow 38 per cent overall.

    “It was massive growth in all markets, and if we hadn’t had that increased facility, we wouldn’t have been able to do that business,” he reflects.

    Read more at the Telegraph.

  • Medina Publishing starts a new chapter in the Middle East and wins a new contract

    Medina Publishing was based in South London initially, and later moved to Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

    After the move, publisher Peter Harrigan turned to UK Export Finance for help with performance tender bonds on contracts in the Middle East as he looked to expand.

    Governments in the Gulf states often demand such bonds in advance, which can be up to five per cent of the value of a contract.

    “UKEF helped because it released the need to have that money sitting there where you can’t touch it,” he says. “We didn’t have to drain cash and fight for cash flow, we just had to have a bond in place to run the contracts without tying down our reserves.”

    UKEF arranged a General Export Facility via Harrigan’s bank, HSBC.

    The extended facility meant Medina Publishing could “confidently” move onto securing a contract for several book projects, including research, writing, design and translation into Arabic.

    Read more at the Telegraph.

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