WEST Midlands businesses have been assured that expert advice on exporting is readily available at a round table event staged in Birmingham.

Firms ranging in size from SMEs to large corporates were told that help is at hand that can help first time exporters and experienced international traders overcome barriers to succesfully selling their goods and services overseas.

Rebecca Reading, a partner in accountancy and advisory firm Baker Tilly's office told businesses attending the event - staged at Baker Tilly's offices - that exporting can be part of a strategy for any size of company.

"We've long pushed the point that export is not only something that big companies do. That's not true at all," she said.

"Getting the product out is the challenge. There is a lot of information out there from UKTI and similar but when you go beyond that it becomes more complicated."

This story is part of a supplement on international trade, produced in association with Baker Tilly and West Midlands Business Export. To read more and to download it as a PDF click here . 

Reading said there is a tendency for companies to skip past markets close to home now in search of faster growth in emerging markets.

She warned: "The EU has challenges but the way is smoother. But in other countries help is harder to find."

Karen Ison, a West Midlands Business Export programme director at Coventry University Enterprises who helps regional SMEs to export, understands the wide variety of help that is needed by businesses keen to trade overseas.

She said: "We work with UKTI on Passport to Export etc but we are also trying to fill the gaps. We do workshops and take companies overseas and we offer grants. We've had grant approval up to £30,000.

"We also run training sessions with new exporters. A lot of it needs to be on things like shipping. You have to get those things right."

Baker Tilly's Reading said: "It's about doing the research. Think really carefully about the customer. Opportunities may not be part of the strategy and people have got their fingers burnt. It's also taking your time.

"You need to step back and ask whether these are the customers you would normally take on. Because at the end of the day you have to get paid and you need to make sure you are making the decision based on the full facts."