HSBC: helping innovative businesses look overseas
Effective business-to-business support can make all the difference in boosting the export success of forward thinking companies. This is the motivation behind HSBC’s Business Thinking initiative, which was set up in 2010 with the goal of identifying the UK’s most innovative businesses and helping them develop the contacts and strategies that will enable them to thrive in the global economy.
“We want to help UK businesses realise their potential both on the world stage and here in the UK. With businesses facing differing challenges, we can help smart business thinkers to maximise their opportunities and trade their way through the current economic climate.”
- Brian Robertson, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive, HSBC
From thousands of entries, 54 companies from across the UK are selected to go on a "Thought Exchange" trip to one of five dynamic economies around the world. These trips – to South America, North America, Europe and Asia – are aimed at providing businesses with the cultural and commercial inspiration to enable them to forge long-term business relationships abroad.
On each trip the businesses can call on the wealth of experience, contacts and local market insight that HSBC has around the world. Companies participate in face-to-face discussions with prominent business leaders, visit local companies and attend networking events. The visits also allow the UK organisations travelling together to forge links with each other, exchanging ideas and strategic insights, as well as sharing the international best practice that could transform their businesses.
The trips have made a real difference in encouraging companies to look overseas and in boosting export performance. A trip to Shanghai encouraged Stephen Sharman, the managing director of Rainbow Cosmetics, to focus his company’s attention on its established export markets in Scandinavia and to also start planning a longer-term entry into China. This doubled the company’s exports and boosted its turnover by 25% in a year.
Mr Sharman said: “This was a result of HSBC encouraging us to look at exporting more and making sure we were thinking about exports in the right way.”
Following their return to the UK each finalist presents to panels of judges in nine regions of the country, who each choose two regional winners. These 18 companies gain access to up to £6m of lending each, linked to a financial reward of up to £120,000.
You can find more information on the Business Thinking initiative here.
