Recommendation 15

The Department will provide support to all other potential exporters mainly through its website services.33 However, the National Audit Office reported that businesses have low satisfaction with the Department’s digital services (under half of the Department’s clients reported that services to help them identify export opportunities were good at meeting their needs). In addition, use of these services is declining (registrations have dropped from 816 per month in 2018, to 450 per month in 2019, although the Department noted that businesses can use its services without registering).34 Small businesses with fewer staff may not be able to afford the time they need to use the Department’s website to identify the right opportunities, and that smaller exporters often receive little follow-up once they have registered with the website.35