International Trade and ExportingInternational Trade and Exporting -

Why Do Exporters Fail Overseas? The Real Reasons

19 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

A promising product and an enthusiastic overseas enquiry can create a dangerous impression: that export success is simply a matter of sending the goods. Why do exporters fail overseas? Usually not because their product is wholly unsuitable, nor because foreign buyers are uniquely difficult. They fail because an export transaction is a chain of separate disciplines, and one weak link can undermine everything that was done well before it.

This is easily overlooked by firms whose domestic trade has been straightforward. At home, a buyer may be familiar, the law understood, delivery routine and payment reasonably predictable. Overseas, distance magnifies every uncertainty. A misunderstanding over specification, a poorly chosen agent, an unsuitable payment term or an inadequate export packing case can turn a profitable order into an expensive lesson.

How Do Totally Unqualified People Get Top Jobs?

18 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

A capable engineer is passed over for a senior post by someone who cannot read a technical drawing. An experienced export manager loses out to a candidate who has never negotiated a payment term, arranged a shipment or dealt with an overseas customer. Such cases produce a familiar and justified question: how do totally unqualified people get top jobs?

The short answer is that many senior appointments are not made solely, or even mainly, on demonstrable competence. Organisations often recruit for confidence, familiarity, social fit, political usefulness or the ability to reassure a board. These qualities are not always worthless. Leadership involves judgement and communication as well as technical knowledge. But when they displace knowledge altogether, the cost is eventually paid by staff, customers, taxpayers or shareholders.

Is the Chartered Institute for Export Fit for Purpose?

16 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

Is the Chartered Institute for Export fit for purpose? A seasoned assessment of trade training, practical competence, standards and what exporters need.

Export Digitisation Trends That Change Trade

14 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

A shipment can now be entered into a customs system in minutes, yet still be delayed for days because a commodity code is wrong, an origin claim is unsupported, or the buyer’s bank requires a document in a different form. That is the central reality behind export digitisation trends. Technology has accelerated the transmission of information. It has not removed the need to understand what that information means.

For those who remember export business before electronic declarations, the change is remarkable. Orders arrived by post, telex or fax; documents were typed, checked, copied and couriered; and a minor discrepancy could mean a long telephone call across time zones. Much of that labour has rightly disappeared. But the enduring disciplines of international trade – clear contracts, accurate classification, sound packing, appropriate payment terms and dependable local representation – have not disappeared with it.

Gerald’s Weekly International Trade Briefing

13 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

Practical developments for UK exporters and SMEs This was a comparatively quiet week for changes to general customs and export-control procedures. The principal developments concern proposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese industrial products and a markedly stronger—but uneven—WTO outlook for world trade. 1. New duty proposed on Chinese titanium dioxide Status: Proposed—not yet in force. Comments … Read more

Direct Exporting Versus Local Distributors

12 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

A promising enquiry from overseas can make the choice appear simple: sell direct, keep the margin and speak to the customer yourself. Yet the decision between direct exporting versus local distributors is rarely settled by a spreadsheet alone. It determines who understands the customer, who carries stock, who provides service when something goes wrong, and how much of the market intelligence reaches the manufacturer.

For many British firms, particularly those selling specialised industrial products, the route to market has been the difference between steady overseas growth and an expensive false start. A distributor may appear to take too much margin until the exporter discovers what that margin is expected to pay for: local selling effort, language, credit, warehousing, installation, spares and patient follow-up. Equally, a distributor can become an expensive barrier between a capable exporter and the market it ought to know directly.

A Practical Guide to Cross Cultural Negotiation

11 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

A contract can be technically sound, competitively priced and carefully presented, yet still fail because the people at the table do not attach the same meaning to a pause, a promise or a handshake. A useful guide to cross-cultural negotiation begins there. International business is not a matter of learning a few national stereotypes. It is the disciplined work of understanding how another party reaches confidence, authority and agreement.

For exporters, agents and senior managers, this is not a soft subject to be left to the social part of a visit. Cultural judgement affects the pace of a sale, the reliability of information received, who can make a decision and how a disagreement should be handled. It can also determine whether a promising first meeting produces a durable commercial relationship or an expensive misunderstanding.

Why the Government’s Export Adviser Scheme Failed

10 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

For many small and medium-sized firms, the question of why the governments export adviser scheme failed is not an abstract matter of public administration. It goes to the heart of a familiar frustration: Britain says it wants more firms to export, yet practical help has too often been difficult to find, uneven in quality, or delivered by people with little experience of winning business overseas.

The failure was not caused by a shortage of good intentions. Nor was it because exporting is inherently beyond the reach of smaller companies. Britain has produced generations of capable manufacturers, engineers, specialists and traders who have succeeded in demanding overseas markets. The weakness lay in the way expertise was selected, organised and valued.

Can Experienced Workers Mentor Graduates Well?

8 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

A graduate can arrive with a sound degree, confidence with digital systems and a willingness to work, yet still be uncertain when a customer changes a specification, a shipment is delayed or a senior colleague gives an ambiguous instruction. That is where the question, can experienced workers mentor graduates, becomes more than a pleasant idea about helping the next generation. It becomes a question of whether organisations can preserve judgement that took years, sometimes decades, to acquire.

The short answer is yes, but not automatically. Experience is valuable only when it is examined, explained and adapted to the person receiving it. A long-serving employee who says, “That is how we have always done it”, may pass on caution but not understanding. A good mentor shows how decisions are made when the manual is incomplete and the consequences are real.

How to Plan Overseas Assignments That Deliver

7 October 2026 by Gerald Bratley MCIEx

A foreign visit can look productive on an itinerary and achieve very little in practice. A week of handshakes, hotel breakfasts and factory tours is no substitute for a clear purpose, sound preparation and the judgement to listen before making promises. That is the central lesson in how to plan overseas assignments: travel is an expensive business tool, not an end in itself.

For many British firms, overseas work begins with an invitation from a prospective customer, an exhibition, a distributor problem or an apparent opening in a new market. The temptation is to book the flight quickly. Yet the quality of the assignment is usually determined before anyone reaches the airport. A poorly briefed visitor can damage a reputation built over years; a well-prepared one can establish the facts on which a sensible trading decision depends.