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10th Export Action Plan Competition Launched

7 November, 2018
Posted by: William Barns-Graham
Chartered Institute News

This article was published before we became the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade on 10 July 2024, and this is reflected in references to our old brand and name. For more information about us becoming Chartered, visit our dedicated webpage on the change here.

export action plan

The Institute of Export & International Trade (IOE&IT) is delighted to launch the 10th Open to Export Competition’– a great opportunity for UK companies to take ownership of their international strategies and to win £3000 towards implementing them.

Sponsored by Bibby Financial Services (BFS), the competition asks SMEs to create an international strategy using the online ‘Export Action Plan’ tool on OpentoExport.com. The tool allows companies to take ownership of their export strategy in a systematic way, encouraging them to take decisions along each step of their international trade journey – from selecting a market to delivering products or services to new customers.

The competitions are a key element of the IOE&IT and BFS’s commitment to boosting UK SME exports. The 10th iteration has the theme of ‘Taking UK Plc to the World’, showing that the UK is committed to international trade after Brexit. 

This follows the competition of the first international iteration of the competition, which was won by Dytech Limited (Zambia) during the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Public Forum and saw the IOE&IT being recognised as a ‘Small Business Champion’by both the WTO and the International Chamber of Commerce.

January 25th deadline

Companies have until January 25th to enter their ‘Export Action Plans’ into the competition – giving them all of Christmas and the key planning month of January. 10 shortlisted finalists will then be invited to pitch their businesses at a showcase final at the end of February. The finalists will pitch to a panel of expert judges about how they would use the £3000 cash prize provided by BFS towards implementing their international growth strategy.

Announcing the 10th competition, Lesley Batchelor OBE, Director General of the IOE&IT, said:

“We support more than 10,000 businesses worldwide and we know from our own experience that trading overseas presents SMEs with tangible opportunities to grow. The IOE&IT is a fantastic support service for SMEs and we’re looking forward to reviewing the competition entries.”   

Kash Ahmad, Specialist Product Director at Bibby Financial Services, added:

“We support more than 10,000 businesses worldwide and we know from our own experience that trading overseas presents SMEs with tangible opportunities to grow. The IOE&IT is a fantastic support service for SMEs and we’re looking forward to reviewing the competition entries.”