As the UK’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF) helps businesses win export contracts, manage cashflow and reduce risk when selling overseas. With Export Finance Managers based across the UK, the team is on hand to guide businesses and help navigate and secure support.
Alissia Deane is UKEF’s regional manager for West and North Yorkshire, and Zara Hussain is head of inclusive trade.
Here, they share the purpose that fuels their work – and how UKEF equips businesses, small and large, to compete and thrive worldwide.
Tell us what your work involves and how it fits into UKEF’s wider mission
Deane: My role as an export finance manager is to help to support UK companies trading overseas, through access to finance and insurance, plus raising awareness of UKEF support. We have a goal of supporting more than 1,000 SMEs per year before 2029. To achieve this, we take the time to develop a thorough understanding of each customer and their needs, so that we can explore the most feasible forms of finance for them.
The valuable support we can provide includes guarantees to the business’s bank to help them access working capital, and insurance policies to mitigate the risk of non-payment when trading overseas. We also connect businesses with a local ecosystem of support, lenders and specialist advisers.
Hussain: I support underrepresented businesses across the UK to access the finance they need to scale overseas. To date, this has been focused on businesses led by women and members of ethnic minority groups. My work is aligned to the UKEF mission – to ensure that no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer. Also, it’s to make sure that our support reaches businesses irrespective of their location, or ownership.
What type of businesses does UKEF support?
Deane: The inquiries we receive and businesses we’ve supported are so varied – it may be related to accessing finance, or exploring available support for the business’s overseas buyer, or looking at finance options to help them reduce the risk of not being paid when selling overseas. UKEF support enables businesses to have the confidence to start those conversations, reduce the barriers, and be in a stronger position when negotiating overseas contracts.
How does having a regional focus allow you to better support businesses?
Deane: I am able to apply my skills based on the knowledge I have of the Yorkshire regions. Having worked in financial services for nearly 20 years, I bring regional knowledge alongside my professional expertise. It helps build long-term partnerships based on trust and mutual understanding.
What can businesses expect from a first meeting with a regional export finance manager?
Deane: The initial meeting is generally a discovery session. It can be online or I can organise a face-to-face meeting. Ahead of the meeting, I spend time learning about their business model, and I try to understand the opportunities, challenges, and their long-term business export strategy.
During the meeting, I also learn about their banking relationship. I ask questions like: “Who is your bank?” and “What options of finance or support have you already explored?” This gives me a good indication of the potential next steps, including engaging their bank so it can be brought into ongoing discussions. The usual progression would then be to arrange a joint meeting to explore finance options and suitable UKEF solutions.
How should a small business prepare and what do they need to know before meeting with an export finance manager?
Deane: Businesses looking to access finance to support their overseas trade should reach out to their local export finance manager and be open to having a conversation about their business, and their current and future export strategy. This may include how they have funded the business historically and what growth, or scaling overseas, might look like for them.
What extra barriers might businesses run by women or people from minority ethnic groups face when it comes to exporting and export finance in particular?
Hussain: For many businesses we work with, particularly women-led and ethnic minority-led businesses, knowledge and access to networks can be significant barriers. Large corporations often have institutional knowledge or a legacy of people who understand how the trading world works, and who are very well connected. That’s incredibly important – UKEF can help the smaller and underrepresented businesses connect with relevant contacts who can support them.
Inclusivity is not just the right thing to do, it’s good for businesses. We know that women-led businesses could add £250bn to the economy [pdf] – and we want to help them do that. If a business has struggled to access finance previously, we’d love to talk to them as we may be able to propose a government-backed finance solution which may help them navigate the next step of their growth.
What are some of the businesses and partnerships you’re proudest of from your local area?
Deane: I supported a business called Tilz Prosperitas – an e-commerce retailer with a black female business owner called Tayo Adebisi. UKEF support has given Tayo the confidence to drive and scale the business even further, from strengthening relationships with established clients across the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Spain to expanding into Canada. It’s amazing! I’m excited to see what the future holds for Tayo.
Hussain: One of the things I’m most proud of is the female founder export accelerator that we launched this year. It’s based in Birmingham and Leeds. This was intentional because we know these areas are rich with innovative and high growth businesses. The 20 founders on this programme are from multiple sectors and share a passion to grow their businesses through exporting. It has been a pleasure to see them flourish and realise their potential throughout this programme.
What would you tell a small business that is struggling to access financing?
Deane: Be bold. Step out of your comfort zone. There is fantastic support out there so don’t be afraid to ask for help or guidance. To get started, all you need to do is fill in a form on our website.
What do you wish small businesses knew about UKEF?
Hussain: At UKEF we assess deals based on viability, not size, so you’re never too small to have a conversation with us. It’s also never too early to start talking to us, so if you are thinking of trying to win contracts overseas, or concerned about being paid when doing overseas business, please reach out to your local export finance manager.
Deane: You just need to know your business. We can help you work out the rest.
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