Prof Lester Lloyd-Reason on his day at 'The Lords'

Back on the one of the few sunny days of the summer 2012, Prof Lester Lloyd-Reason, Director of the Centre for Enterprise Development and Research (CEDAR), was invited down to the House of Lords to be interviewed for the position of Special Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on SME exports. Prof Lloyd-Reason was one of four UK academics interviewed for the role and although it did not work out due to the time commitment involved, he was invited back in October to provide oral evidence to the Select Committee.

The background to the Committee is as follows. In May 2011, UK Trade and Investment, the Government export promotion body, unveiled their new strategy: Britain Open for Business: growth through international trade and investment. In response to this strategy document, Lord Cope of Berkley established the House of Lords Select Committee on SME exports to examine what the Government is doing to assist and promote SME exports. In order to gather information, the Committee sent out a call for written evidence to the academic, practitioner and policy communities with a deadline of 14th September. In addition to the written evidence, a small number were invited by the Select Committee to provide oral evidence to the Committee at the House of Lords. The Committee is due to produce their conclusions and recommendations for Government action in February 2013.

In providing oral evidence to the Select Committee, Prof Lloyd-Reason drew primarily upon his research with UK Trade and Investment where 1,000 small and medium sized enterprises were surveyed and his work as expert adviser to the OECD-APEC 44-country survey 'Removing Barriers to SME Access to International Markets'. Prof Lloyd-Reason suggested to the Select Committee that 'If we really want to have an impact, then there are three key messages for the Government:

1. All too often we hear that what is needed to help international SMEs to grow their exports is financial assistance. But it is not about money at all. Rather if we are to help our SMEs to compete effectively in international markets, what they need are skills, knowledge and experiential learning. A mix of simple 'how to' training through to managing complexity.
2. Having developed a typology comprising: the curious, the frustrated, the tentative, the enthusiastic and the successful, it is the enthusiastic category where the Government can generate the highest return for minimal investment. These firms, which have high growth potential, typically employ around 30 staff, have strong domestic markets, some international successes and although they face many challenges, these challenges are often easily addressed.
3. The emphasis on language skills is a myth. All successful international SMEs tell us that it is not a question of language but of developing what we call 'international skills' - the ability to perform effectively when faced with a totally alien environment. When seeking to operate effectively in countries such as China, Russia or Brazil, the issue is not language, but the ability to successfully negotiate your way through a strange, unfamiliar, often hostile trading environment.'