Just one fifth of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK plan to export abroad, compared with 38% in France, and 24% in Germany, according to research by Regus. The survey found that 43% of respondents did not believe local language skills to be necessary to trading successfully overseas. Nick Baird, of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), said that there was evidence to show that “companies who export to any country in any financial climate in the long term, perform better and are more profitable that those who do not.”

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