YORKSHIRE has been selected to pilot a new Government scheme which aims to offer every mid-sized business in the country advice on exporting.

Trade Minister Lord Livingston has announced he will personally write to all the UK’s 8,900 mid-sized businesses (MSBs) by this summer to ask them if they would like support from UK Trade and Investment. He said: “Mid-sized businesses have the potential to be economic powerhouses for the UK economy, creating jobs and growth for all regions of the UK.

“Their success is dependant on expanding beyond domestic markets so we will be making personal contact with all mid-sized businesses to find out what we can do to help them go up a gear and compete with the best the rest of the world has to offer.”

A pilot study is due to start next month in Yorkshire and the Humber, as well as the south-east.

The study will finish by early spring, after which there will be a national roll-out.