KENT businesses are being given another chance to cross the Atlantic with UK Trade & Investment Team South East, the Government’s export support service for small and medium-sized businesses.

This October the agency is organising a visit by South East businesses to Chicago to uncover business opportunities in the Mid-West.

Full support in arranging business links is given by T&I team with companies offered a pre-visit briefing by UK T&I International Trade Advisers and specific market research provided through the Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS).

During the week-long visit from October 26 to November 4, participants will visit Detroit, Indianapolis and St Louis and can arrange visits to companies and trade shows with access to UK Trade & Investment’s resources and briefings.

International trade director Lewis Scott said: "The US is a challenging market; many exporters are interested in it but are intimidated by its size and complexity.

"Chicago, has a huge range of trade opportunities for UK firms to exploit but is overlooked in favour of doing business on the East and West Coasts.

"Few realise the economy of Illinois is as big as Florida and twice as big as states like Virginia. Chicago has been described as being the easiest city in the US to do business.

"Our network of embassy and locally based staff across the world means we can give UK businesses an insight into who the key players are."

The deadline for applications is Friday, September 30. For more information or to register, call 01329 223 205 or email overseas.events@uktisoutheast.com.