The British Christmas export economy is booming, despite concerns about the country’s overall trade deficit.
New figures released by UKTI show that firms trading in festive specialities are likely to be full of cheer come Boxing Day. Statistics for the last quarter of 2013 released on Tuesday show, among other things, that the chestnut export business quadrupled in size and that fresh British Christmas trees have been sent as far afield as Russia.
Britain’s trading account is often in the red due mainly to the consumption of more goods than it exports although the most recent calculation of the deficit for the three months to October showed it narrowing to £30.30bn.
Are Christmas exports helping to put UK exports back on top?
Jadecliff Christmas trees is one business which is helping to boost small business export sales at Christmas. Managing director Sadie Lynes says: “Christmas trees are an interesting industry - lots of small businesses depend on Christmas trees during lower performing times of the year, for example garden centres. Trees are being used as a way to increase footfall in these businesses.”
After growing the business in the UK since its foundation in 1982, exporting was the next logical step for Jadecliff. “We’ve exported to Portugal, Holland, Jersey, and Guernsey. We’ve even had interest from as far afield as Bahrain, but we’ve had to look into the logistics of exporting here!”
British chestnut suppliers saw the value of their exports jump by 352% for the festive season in 2013 compared to the same period in 2012 with a market value of chestnuts at £177,611 up from £39,305 in 2012. This was mainly due to soaring demand in Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Alongside chestnuts and Christmas trees, the British toy industry has experienced a surge in exports up from Q4 in 2012, with UK toy manufacturers reporting a 25% increase in exports for October to December 2013. This is an increase of more than £25m compared to the same period in 2012 and, with a 17%increase in unit toy sales for 2014 so far, is set to grow further still this year. British toys have been exported to Angola and Kazakhstan, suggesting that children all over the world are keen for British toys.
Wicked Vision creates boomerangs, frisbees, and other British toys at its Wimbledon warehouse and has a large international export market. “Ironically, our boomerangs are actually popular in Australia, and we also have a strong market in Egypt, the US, and Oman. Our distributors cover a lot of ground, says general manager Charles Williams. “I think we’re doing our bit to stimulate the British economy. People associate good quality with British toys after all.”
This year’s autumn statement promised £20m to support first-time exporters, and UKTI provided a line from business secretary Vince Cable, who said that he remained committed to boosting Britain’s export portfolio.
Cable said: “It’s particularly good to see British firms branching out into new markets, selling Christmas trees in Russia, chestnuts to Spain and toys to Angola. Looking ahead to 2015, we want to help British businesses not just sell abroad, but thrive there. UK Trade & Investment stands ready to help and this year supported almost 48,000 companies do just that.”
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Gallery - The UK’s most popular exports
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