Recommendation 16

The FSB also reported that the Department’s International Trade Advisors can vary in quality, that small businesses do not know about the Department’s ‘Report a trade barrier’ scheme and are not using it, and that very small firms do not have the opportunity to apply for a Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP) grant.36 Pact (which represents the independent television, film and digital media production sector including many small businesses) told us that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many trade shows will take place virtually for the foreseeable future. However, TAP grants are not available for virtual trade shows and many businesses may not be able to attend without financial support.37 In written evidence, the Department informed us that it currently assesses the performance of TAP through its client survey but that it intends to develop ways of measuring the long- term effectiveness and impact of the programme.38 There is scope for the Department to learn from other countries, such as Denmark, about how it could better target support at individual companies.39 The department should look at how many businesses export once but not again, and the reasoning why.