Kent County Council (KCC) and the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce have secured £90,000 of funding to help small businesses access overseas markets.

The money comes from SELEP (the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.

The Seed Project, which stands for South East Export Development, kicks off this month and will run for a year.

It will focus on helping firms in the food and drink, life sciences and digital and creative sectors to make virtual connections in overseas markets including the US, Hong Kong and South East Asian countries.

KCC, along with its counterparts in Essex and East Sussex, is putting together a free programme of support which will launch with some online “export readiness” training activities and culminate with a series of virtual trade missions in the autumn.

The aim is to connect Kent and Medway companies with distributors, buyers and useful contacts in several international markets.

Mike Whiting, KCC’s cabinet member for economic development, said: "Although small businesses are still feeling the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, we believe that there are growing opportunities in overseas markets.

“Exporting will be a key way to help many Kent businesses on the road to recovery. Businesses have quickly adapted to make great use of digital technologies and the planned virtual trade missions will be an effective way of getting Kent firms in front of new international customers.”

It is hoped the project will provide help to up to 100 companies including around 30 from Kent.

To find out more details and check the eligibility criteria, click here.

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