Government roadshow showcases Scottish talent and boosts SME exports

Small business exporters and ambitious SMEs across Scotland will be front and centre of a new roadshow in Edinburgh - Made in the UK Sold to the World.

Article Source: UK Government
Last Updated: 25 September 2025 9:37

Small business exporters and ambitious SMEs across Scotland will be front and centre of a new roadshow in Edinburgh, offering tailored support from the UK Government to get more SMEs exporting across the financial, professional, and business services sectors.

The Made in the UK, Sold to the World roadshow events offer SMEs the opportunity to directly connect with commercial officers, international buyers, and Export Champions to get advice, support, and discuss real export opportunities.

Boosting exports is a key part of the government’s Plan for Change to drive growth, create well-paid jobs and put more money in people’s pockets, with stats showing businesses that export are over a quarter more productive than businesses that don’t, and pay 7% higher wages.

The roadshow will demonstrate the incredible support being made available to SMEs through the Small Business Plan, from the expansion of UK Export Finance’s capacity to the Business Growth Service.

In 2024, the US was the largest market for Scottish services after the Netherlands, which is why the roadshow will provide a workshop for businesses on exporting services to the US.

As part of the Plan for Change, each roadshow is focused on one of the eight key growth driving sectors identified in the UK's modern Industrial Strategy to channel support to sectors with the highest potential to create jobs, boost productivity and grow the economy.

DBT Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, Blair McDougall said:

“Scottish businesses are known for providing world-class Financial and Professional services, and this roadshow will be an excellent opportunity to showcase that talent and connect businesses with new international partners, opening the door to new markets.

“Export success and the professional and business services sector are key to the government’s Industrial Strategy and Plan for Change, which will drive growth and create well-paid jobs. That is why we are doing everything we can to support our small and medium sized businesses to grow and succeed.”

Minister McDougall will be giving the keynote address before touring the roadshow, seeing the many workshops and exhibition on offer. The Minister will meet with several businesses spanning law, insurance, and financial technology sectors.

Professional and business services are worth £300 billion a year and support one in every seven jobs. Strengthening the sector is central to the Modern Industrial Strategy, which aims to maintain the UK's position as the second largest services exporter in the world while creating the most dynamic professional and business services ecosystem by 2035.

Plans include five new centres of excellence across country - including Glasgow - to help services firms grow and adopt new technology, and additional backing through UK Export Finance to secure overseas contracts.

Scotland is home to a dynamic financial, professional and business services industry ranging from law and accountancy, to consulting and engineering. Making Edinburgh a hub for both large corporations like the Royal Bank of Scotland and for smaller firms like Predictiva.

The commercial officers and international buyers present at the event span markets and regions from around the world, from the US and Europe to Africa, the Asia Pacific, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

On hand and ready to offer his advice, will be Export Champion and Founder & CEO at Modulr, Myles Stephenson.

Modulr, based in Edinburgh, has had global success having created an industry-leading payments platform. The company has seen tremendous growth in the last 9-years being one of the UK’s fastest growing tech companies. Our Plan for Change will give SME a clear path to growth, making success stories like Modulr a reality for more UK Businesses.

Myles Stephenson, Export Champion and Founder & CEO at Modulr, said:

“International expansion is a fantastic opportunity for Scottish firms to scale and achieve significant growth.

“At Modulr we’ve worked hard and invested to navigate the challenges of expanding into new markets but know it’s not easy and would like more firms to start or increase their exporting activity.

“By sharing our experience we’d like to encourage more firms to start or increase their export activity. Accessing the support is a key enabler and critical item to consider when entering overseas markets - the Department for Business Trade can help navigate this.”

Background: 

More information can be found on the roadshow website: Made in the UK Sold to the World Roadshows
  
DBT’s export support offer:
• In June DBT launched the Trade Strategy, setting out the Government’s approach to maximising trade opportunities. This includes improving how SMEs take advantage of trade agreements like the UK-India FTA and UK-US tariff deal.
• UK businesses can access DBT’s export support via the Business Growth Service (BGS), launched in the Plan for Small Businesses: Business.gov.uk - Find the right support for your business
• BGS includes access to the UK Export Academy, which helped more than 11,000 businesses sell internationally last financial year alone.
• The Government has also expanded UK Export Finance’s capacity by £20 billion to £80 billion to support more smaller firms win business and increase sales overseas.

Stats:
• “We know that exporting is good for economic growth, supporting a fifth of UK employment, paying on average 7% higher wages, and among goods exporters […]” Source: Evaluating the impact of exports on UK jobs and incomes - GOV.UK

• “[…] delivering 28.5% higher productivity.” Source: Trade and productivity in British firms - Office for National Statistics

Full Services plan:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/professional-and-business-services-sector-plan

Image: DBT Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, Blair McDougall

Image credit: DBT

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Government roadshow showcases Scottish talent and boosts SME exports

Small business exporters and ambitious SMEs across Scotland will be front and centre of a new roadshow in Edinburgh - Made in the UK Sold to the World.

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