While much of the discussion on travel restrictions easing has been centred on the UK’s travel and holiday market, new research shows the enormous impact lifting travel restrictions could have for UK small businesses.
Following changes in August 2021 to the traffic light system for travel – with 36 countries or territories now on the green list – the new Hitachi Capital study of 1,500 directors of UK small businesses found that 43% were looking at regions outside of the UK to grow their business, equating to just over 2.5 million businesses in the UK.
Comparing the responses to those formed before the pandemic, the data shows the proportion of enterprises looking to do business in the UK domestic market has fallen (from 81% to 77%) while those looking for business opportunities overseas has risen from 41% to 43%.
In some industry sectors there have been significant rises in the percentage of small business looking to secure growth from overseas markets – rising from 52% to 62% in the media sector and from 48% to 58% in the transport and distribution sector.
Of those small businesses looking to do business overseas, 46% were looking to North America, and following the recent free-trade deal with Australia, 23% of small businesses looking overseas were considering opportunities down under.
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