'Too often they struggle to get the finance they need.' That was the message from Business Secretary Peter Kyle as Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced on 12 July 2026 a new joint scheme between UK Export Finance and the British Business Bank, aimed at helping smaller firms sell more overseas. For businesses across the North, the announcement lands on familiar ground. Plenty of firms can make, design or supply for overseas markets, but getting the loan or working capital facility to back that growth is often where the plan stalls.

The scheme is due to open in spring 2027 and is aimed at the thousands of small and medium-sized firms with export ambitions that still struggle to secure finance, according to the government announcement. That will sound familiar across northern business communities, where many firms have export potential but not the balance sheet of a big national name. Rather than chasing only the headline-grabbing mega deal, ministers are pitching this as a way to widen export growth. The promise is straightforward: if more smaller firms can get the funding to fulfil orders, manage cashflow and take on new customers abroad, more of that growth should stay rooted in local towns and industrial districts.

In practice, UK Export Finance will guarantee part of the losses on eligible lender portfolios, while lenders will still keep a share of the risk themselves. The British Business Bank will assess, bring in and manage the commercial lenders taking part, using a model that has already been tested in other areas of government-backed lending. That matters because it brings the policy down from Treasury language to everyday credit decisions. If banks and other lenders face lower costs and lower downside on smaller export loans, they may be more willing to back firms that are currently judged too small, too awkward or too early in their export story.

The scheme will be open to SMEs across all sectors and is expected to cover facilities including term loans and working capital. For smaller exporters, that second point may be the real clincher: plenty of viable businesses do not need a huge funding round, just the cash to buy stock, pay suppliers and bridge the gap before overseas invoices are settled. That is why the focus on lower-value finance matters. In many regional economies, especially across the North, the missing piece is not ambition but practical cash support at the right moment.

In the government release, Peter Kyle said smaller firms across the UK have the 'ideas, ambition, and talent' to succeed on the world stage, but said too many still cannot access the finance they need. He framed the scheme as a route to help businesses 'turn local success into global growth'. UKEF chief executive Tim Reid struck a similar note, saying the agency exists so 'no viable UK export fails for lack of finance'. British Business Bank chief executive Louis Taylor said the partnership could strengthen competitiveness by bringing the two public finance bodies together around one clear task.

The government says UKEF's nationwide Export Finance Managers will work alongside the British Business Bank's Local Growth Team to steer firms towards the right support. If that happens properly, the scheme could have more reach than a standard Whitehall announcement might suggest. For northern regions, that detail is not window dressing. Businesses from Cumbria to the Humber often know their product and their market, but not always which public scheme fits, who the lender is or where to start. A joined-up local presence gives this a better chance of reaching factory floors, workshops and fast-growing service firms, not just policy papers.

The timing is no accident. Earlier in the week, UKEF said in its 2025 to 2026 Impact Report that it had provided more than £11 billion in loans, guarantees and insurance over the previous year, supporting up to 85,000 jobs and contributing up to £6.4 billion to the UK economy. That gives ministers a strong headline, but the real test will come in spring 2027 when lenders begin to use the scheme. Northern exporters will judge it less by ministerial claims than by whether a good business with a solid order book can finally get a sensible loan without months of being passed from desk to desk.