UK Export Finance (UKEF), the government’s export credit agency, has announced a new product to help British firms secure international contracts for engineering, design and technical services.
The Early Project Services Guarantee is available to overseas clients using UK firms to scope and design their projects in the planning phase, as part of an incentive for them to buy British.
A UKEF statement said the guarantee would help overseas buyers of UK services access private finance by assuring lenders that they would receive payment, making their offer more attractive.
A spokesperson for the organisation cited pre-construction work as an example of a service covered by the product.
Once the project services contract is complete, the guaranteed loan could be refinanced alongside financing the wider construction project, they added. The prospect of subsequent finance throughout the lifecycle of projects incentivises overseas buyers to select UK service firms for early-stage work, UKEF said.
The agency’s director of SME and trade finance, Carl Williamson, said: “This new export finance support will give international buyers even more incentive to tap into UK design and engineering expertise.
“Year-on-year growth in service exports shows that the demand is there for this country’s professional and technical services.
“The development of our Early Project Services Guarantee is a clear signal of UKEF’s commitment to helping the services sector to maintain its competitive edge and international renown.”
The announcement was made as part of International Trade Week, an event run by the Department for Business and Trade to advise UK businesses on accessing new international markets.
UKEF was formed in 1919 and its mission statement says it “exists to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer”.
In 2020, Construction News examined the work of UKEF and whether, at the time, its work benefited British businesses as much as its stated aims.
