The Prime Minister welcomed two Wakefield companies to 10 Downing Street to recognise their business success in overseas markets and their contribution to the UK economy

Companies exporting British talent and products, including Wakefield-based m2r Ltd and Group Rhodes discussed their successes and concerns with the Prime Minister on July 7th. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Minister for Trade, Investment and Business, Lord Davies also took questions on what Government is doing to help UK exporters during the downturn.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:

"I want to thank you for everything you are doing for the British economy, for British exports, and for British confidence. All of you here are successful businesses. All of you have made important innovations in the way you do business. Many of you have received Queen’s Awards for what you have done, and I congratulate you. Many of you are helping this country through one of the most difficult financial periods and doing so by increasing your growth rates and making sure that the economy can remain strong for the future."

Lord Mandelson said:

“In my department, and in the government as a whole, we are passionate, to the point of obsessive, about exports. They are where Britain chiefly makes its living in the world economy. The global economic recovery is going to be led more by investment and exports than any early expansion of consumer demand.”

Lord Davies said:

“It is important to recognise British exporting success. The companies here today show the range of businesses in the UK taking their talents to the world. But we must encourage more firms to export.”

Munir Mamujee, Managing Director of Wakefield-based m2r, said:

“It was an honour to be invited to Number 10 and hear the Prime Minister’s plans for British exporters.

“The key to m2r’s international growth is being sympathetic to the local culture, understanding business etiquette and working with a high degree of professionalism at all times. This has helped us achieve preferred supplier status with a large number of our clients and sole supplier with many others.”

UK Trade & Investment, the part of Government responsible for promoting exports and inward investment, invited a wide-range of UK firms who are looking to increase their export markets as a way of surviving the downturn and building a platform for long-term growth.

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