With GDP growth at 1.2 per cent, the British economy is growing at a rate not seen since 2007, a year before the financial crisis crippled economic output.
And UK manufacturing, which accounts for 10 per cent of the UK economy, is at the heart of this surge.
Manufacturing in the UK has been growing consistently for the last six months. The Markit / CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index reported that manufacturing has seen its strongest quarterly performance in two and half years, thanks in part to a recorded 19-year high in output and new orders.
However, if there is one blip on the forecast, it is that growth in export remains relatively weak. Most of the accelerated growth is due to domestic demand and although export numbers did rise moderately, they did so at the lowest level since May.
Senior economist at Markit Rob Dobson described the slow rise in export orders as disappointing, and told the BBC: “We would expect to be seeing far stronger export gains than companies are currently reporting, especially with the eurozone showing signs of finally pulling out of recession.”
Britain has long been looking boost its export potential, thanks to programs and trade missions run by Government-run body UK Trade & Investment as well as the Institute of Export.
The greatest barrier UK businesses often face, however, is language.
While trade missions certainly play their part in boosting exports and expanding a company’s growth into new markets, especially in the engineering and allied industries market, for the other important UK manufacturing sectors – such as food, drink and publishing and textiles – online trends suggest that a greater focus on multilingual e-commerce and website localisation may be the most efficient solution.
As we’ve previously reported, the e-commerce market is really taking off in developing economies and UK businesses would be foolish not to tap into those market.
Despite English being the most commonly used second language, a research report published by Eurobarometer two years ago found that as many as 42 per cent of those surveyed said they wouldn’t consider making a purchase from a website that wasnt in their mother tongue. With other languages becoming more and more prevalent on the internet, there’s little chance of non-native English speakers relying on monolingual UK websites.
And, when weighed up alongside the costs of a series of trade mission, the investment put into a translated and localised website is relatively small.
The “Made in Britain” brand already boasts a quality mark that carries a higher value overseas and export will be a key factor to unlocking continued economic growth in the coming years.
At Today Translations, we provide translation and website localisation services to UK business looking to expand their scope into overseas markets. Whatever your sector or specialisation, we can help you unlock your export potential.
To find out more about our services, contact us at [email protected] or call us on +44 (0) 207 397 2770 .