The United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) is the government department that provides financial support to UK businesses exporting goods and services. This support can take the form of loans, guarantees, and insurance.
The UKEF’s aim is to help businesses win and fulfil export contracts, by mitigating the risk of non-payment by buyers and providing finance at competitive rates. The UKEF also provides information and advice on export opportunities and exporting products.
In addition, the UKEF works with a number of partners, including banks, insurance companies, and trade associations, to provide support for businesses exports.
As a result, the UKEF is an important source of support for businesses looking to sell goods and services overseas.
Who are UK Export Finance?
UK Export Finance (UKEF) is a government organization that provides financial support to UK companies that are doing business overseas. This includes loans, guarantees, and insurance.
UKEF was created in 1919 to help UK companies with the cost of exporting goods and services. Since then, it has supported over £600 billion worth of exports. UKEF is funded by the government and does not charge interest on its loans. It is also backed by the European Union’s Export Credit Guarantee Programme.
As a result, UKEF is able to offer competitive rates and terms to UK companies. This makes it an essential resource for businesses that are looking to expand their operations abroad.
What do UK Export Finance do?
UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency. Their job is to ensure that UK exporters get paid for the goods and services they provide, by supporting their customers, which are often banks with loans, guarantees and insurance.
This gives UK companies the confidence to trade knowing that they will get paid even if their customer doesn’t – which can be vital when selling to new markets.
They also help UK companies win contracts by sharing the risk with lenders, so that they can offer more competitive finance to buyers. In addition, we can sometimes offer direct support to help UK companies secure specific contracts.
Working closely with a number of government departments to make sure that they are supporting British exports in line with government priorities.
UK Export Finance are also the official export credit agency for England, Scotland and Wales. While their focus is on supporting UK exports, they also consider applications from overseas companies that have a significant presence in the UK.
Who is in charge of UK Export Finance?
The following people are invoiced in the running and management of UK Export Finance:
| Member | Position held |
|---|---|
| Noel Harwerth, Chairman, UK Export Finance | One Savings Bank |
| Scotia Bank Europe | |
| Department for International Trade | |
| Alistair Clark | Export Guarantees Advisory Council |
| Andrew Mitchell | None |
| Candida Morley | UK Government Investments |
| Scottish National Investment Bank | |
| Oliver Peterken | Soteria Insurance Limited |
| Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company | |
| UIA (Insurance) Ltd | |
| Lawrence Weiss | None |
| Kim Wiehl | Women’s Business Development Council |
| Advisory Board member of Thunderbird School of Global Management | |
| American Arbitration Association |
UK Export Finance’s products:
UKEF’s range of trade finance products can help exporters access working capital to win contracts and fulfil orders.
Bond Support Scheme: If the terms of a contract require a bond, such as performance guarantees or advance payment guarantees, UKEF’s Bond Support Scheme can guarantee up to 80% of the bond’s value to the exporter’s bank, allowing the bank to release the cash needed to secure the bond back to the exporter to use as working capital.
Export Working Capital Scheme: UKEF can provide a partial guarantee to a UK exporter’s bank in support of working capital facilities linked to specific export contracts, allowing the bank to offer the facilities to the exporter and freeing up cash flow for the exporter to fulfil additional orders. This can help exporters who win a higher value contract than normal or who need to fulfil more contracts than usual.
General Export Facility: For businesses who want to scale up their exports, UKEF can provide a partial guarantee to a UK exporter’s bank to help the exporter gain access to trade finance facilities, helping to unlock working capital to support business growth – without the need of a specific export contract. This helps businesses cover the everyday costs linked to exporting and scale up their exports.
What are the disadvantages of UK Export Finance?
There are a number of disadvantages with UK Export Finance, the main one is your business needs to have a strong back ground and in good financial standing.
As a result, the process can be time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, UK Export Finance is not always available for all types of products and services.
For example, the financing program does not support the export of alcohol or tobacco products. Finally, UK Export Finance can be difficult to obtain for small businesses.
This is because the program tends to favor larger companies with established export records. As a result, small businesses may find it difficult to access the financing they need to grow their operations.
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