SMES MISS OUT ON THE

Despite expectations that the pound will remain weak against the US dollar and Euro for the foreseeable future, small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing sector are failing to take advantage of the current favourable export environment, according to a study released today by GE Capital.

One in five (20%) of SMEs in the manufacturing put overseas expansion in their top business priorities for the year and just under one in five (19%) said that they expect their growth to come from international sales over the next three years, thus making them heavily reliant on the fortunes of the UK economy.  This is marginally more than in 2008, when 19% said overseas expansion was a priority, and 17% were planning on growing non-domestic sales.