Lords Committee on SME Exports to hear from CBI
The House of Lords Committee on Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) Exports will this week hear evidence from the CBI and financiers supporting exporters as part of their inquiry, which is aiming to find out how small business in the UK can be helped to generate more export sales.
Elizabeth Fells, Head of International Strategy at the CBI, will give evidence first and be asked about the challenges SMEs face in exporting their goods and services and how this differs across different sectors. She will also quizzed about the performance of the CBI in supporting SMEs and how the body works with government.
Following the session at 10.40am with Ms Fells, evidence will be heard from witnesses from companies created to support SMEs in particular to raise finance for investment. They will be asked about what the financial sector can do to support SMEs in penetrating new export markets.
At 11.10am, the Committee will hear from:
- Mark Runiewicz, CEO of Trade and Export Finance Limited;
- Simon Davies, Head of International Trade Finance at Bibby Financial Services; and
- Samir Desai, CEO and Co-Founder of Funding Circle.
The evidence sessions will take place from 10.40am on Thursday 1 November in Committee Room 2 of the House of Lords and will be webcast live at www.parliamentlive.tv.
The evidence session is also open to the public. Journalists wishing to attend should go to Parliament's Cromwell Green Entrance and should allow time for security screening.
