ICAEW has outlined six principles for a successful trade strategy in its response to the UK government’s call for evidence as part of its Trade Strategy Review. 

The principles were based on the conversations it has had with members and their insights on trade.

ICAEW’s principles for the Trade Strategy Review are: 

1) Treat services equally 

The Trade Strategy should reflect goods and services equally; 81% of the economy is made up of service providers. By taking a holistic and modern approach to trade that encompasses wider economic partnerships, the UK could unlock more opportunities.

“The strategy should reflect this relative strength in services and play to our comparative advantage here,” says John Boulton, ICAEW’s Director, Policy. “Eight priority sectors have already been identified in the government’s Industrial Strategy, with due weight given to the growth potential of services. These eight sectors should carry through to the Trade Strategy.” 

2) Secure UK supply chains

The UK has world-leading products. The Trade Strategy should listen carefully to the manufacturing sector, ICAEW stresses, both the wider supply chain and household name original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In today’s world, the boundary between manufactured goods and services is increasingly ambiguous – the strategy should reflect this. 

The UK’s manufacturing ecosystem is fragile, despite its long heritage of cohesive supply chains. Suppliers rely on international connectivity. There are also many core manufacturing capabilities that strategically need to be maintained in the UK and which rely on each other for essential components. ICAEW recommends that the government considers and defines these within the Industrial Strategy. “The priority manufacturing areas in the Industrial Strategy should have an accompanying strategy to boost trade,” says Boulton.

3) Support SMEs 

“SMEs are a major driver of growth, but it is a reality we hear from members that exporting to our closest trading partners in the EU is now just too difficult for many such businesses,” says Boulton. “The Trade Strategy must set tangible, ambitious and supported targets to tackle barriers to SMEs trading internationally and the government should back this by setting a key performance indicator for growth in SME trade.” 

ICAEW is urging the government to listen carefully to the concerns of SMEs and make it easy for SME voices to be heard.

The costs to SMEs and the channels available to them should also be taken into account, with “achievable and tangible practical solutions” to some of the issues that SMEs face. For example, the requirement to appoint a fiscal representative for VAT and customs purposes when selling into the EU is a major barrier to trade for SMEs. There aren’t enough of these agents and the cost of appointing them is too high. 

4) Make it easy 

International trade can be complex in 2025, and often starts with a physical presence in the other territory to ease compliance, develop the market and provide the right service to customers. 

That means sending employees to the host country and hiring locally, and often requires the establishment of a legal entity in the territory to register for tax and secure banking services. In a word, it can take a lot of time and money to set up international lines of trade. 

The strategy should aim to make it easier. Resources through Gov.uk could provide businesses with support and guidance. Artificial intelligence could help facilitate this. ICAEW calls on the government to improve trade promotion, making trade mission participation more structured and making better use of UK embassies to promote UK trade. 

5) Play to UK strengths

The UK’s world-leading education and qualifications, which produce highly skilled and talented individuals that support the UK economy, should not be ignored as part of the strategy, says ICAEW. 

This is a global market of almost unlimited potential, beyond UK employment needs, says ICAEW. It recommends that the government should set clear targets and an action plan to: 

• Increase the proportion of people with Level 7 qualifications in the UK economy. 
• Increase the number of people holding UK qualifications internationally. 
• Increase the proportion of international students at UK universities who augment their UK degrees with a UK vocational qualification. 
• Increase the number of UK students who go on to work overseas. These targets are achievable and would yield an immediate economic dividend. 

6) Trust business

“Many of the difficulties that businesses face in getting started in international markets relate to compliance and therefore lend themselves to government solutions,” says Boulton. “A lot of this comes down to trust.”

Anti-money laundering due diligence, registering for tax and even opening a bank account can all be cumbersome, time consuming and expensive to complete. This all plays an important role in excluding criminals from trade, but in an increasingly interconnected and digitally enabled world, and with an international network of UK missions, it should be easier to know who to trust.

A combination of the UK’s network of trade support and the use of regulated advisers could remedy this, helping businesses navigate the system.

Equally, ICAEW members that deal with international establishment say that the UK system is simpler than some other large economies. The Trade Strategy should aim to negotiate equivalent simplifications in trading partners.

“The government’s redoubled focus on trade is welcome,” says Boulton. “There are some low-hanging fruits in areas that might not be obvious, but which could yield real growth opportunities.”