New edition of the Santander UK Business Barometer

2024-04-29 17:37:30

Santander UKthe British subsidiary of Banco Santander, has launched a new edition of its Trade Barometer (Trade Barometer Spring 2024).

The report shows that almost a third (28%) of UK companies are considering expanding abroad over the next three years, which is the highest percentage in the last two years.

In comparison, 56% of firms in the United States, 39% of those in Spain and 38% of those in Poland are also analyzing the possibility of internationalization in the interest of greater growth.

Furthermore, the report indicates that 28% of British companies, which already trade with international markets, estimate that more than half of their income will come from abroad in the next 12 months, a figure that has doubled in the last two years. .

This edition of the Santander UK Business Barometer is the first to expand its area of ​​analysis beyond the United Kingdom, allowing it to include other key markets for Santander Bank.

Regarding the expectations of the management leadership of British companies regarding growth opportunities abroad, they are slightly higher than those of other markets in which it is present. Santander Bank. Thus, the analysis indicates that 20% of American companies, 25% of Spanish companies and 17% of Polish companies that trade in foreign markets expect more than half of their income to come from operations in other countries in the next year.

A recurring conclusion in all editions of the Santander UK Business Barometer, launched eight years ago, is that companies with a global presence or international ambitions are stronger and more resilient.

Regarding the preferences of companies to expand in other countries, up to 47% of American companies point to the United Kingdom as the main destination for foreign trade, ahead of Canada (50%). Likewise, another 39% of American companies pointed to the United Kingdom as the main growth opportunity for next year.

For British companies, the United States continues to be the main destination (35%), followed by Australia (21%), Canada (21%), Germany (20%), United Arab Emirates (16%), France (15%) and China (12%). European Union countries continue to fall down the list of British preferences.

As for Spanish companies, they consider France as the greatest opportunity for foreign growth (19%), followed by the US (19%) and Germany (15%). In Poland, companies believe that Germany and the United Arab Emirates (14%) are the main opportunities for international growth, followed by the United States (14%).

Of the four countries analyzed in the Business Barometer, American companies (82%) are the most confident in their ability to grow, while Polish companies (69%) are the least confident. The figures for the United Kingdom and Spain were 75% and 76%, respectively.

In the last five years, Santander UK has supported more than 1,500 companies to seek new markets, 450 of them in 2023 alone. A fundamental element in this sense is the Santander Navigator platform, a global ecosystem of providers that offers a range of services and knowledge to help entrepreneurs connect with new markets.