The North East is to host a national conference which aims to help companies grow around the world.

In what is being seen as a major coup for the region, the CBI Global Growth conference will take place in Newcastle later this month, recognising the North East’s record for being one of the UK’s most successful exporters.

The conference will hear from leading figures in the CBI as well as the Japanese ambassador to the UK, trade envoys from Australia and the Middle East and senior officials at the Department for International Trade.

A number of successful North East businesses, including Sage, hedgehog lab and Ward Hadaway, will also be represented at the event, while Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes will put the case for investment in the North East.

CBI regional director Sarah Glendinning “Trading with the rest of the world has always been in the North East’s DNA. It’s a great honour to have so many key players coming together to recognise just that and seek out how to do even better in the future.

“The North East has so much to offer investors from home and overseas, so there is no reason for us to be shy, we should be shouting loudly about our achievements and strengths.”

Sarah Glendinning, director, CBI North East
Sarah Glendinning, director, CBI North East

The conferece is taking place at the Crowne Plaza on Newcastle’s Stephenson Quarter on November 13, with a keynote address by Koji Tsuruoka, the Japanese ambassador to the UK, whose country is a major investor in the North East through companies like Nissan, Hitachi and Komatsu.

Delegates will be given an insight into trade in foreign markets with experts from India, Mexico, Australia and the United Arab Emirates taking part in a panel discussion.

And small business owners Raman Sehgal, of Newcastle’s Ramarketing, and Sarat Pediredla, at hedgehog lab, will share their experiences of building up overseas trade.

The importance of overseas trade is becoming a growing focus for many firms as the country prepares for Brexit.

In 2012, then Chancellor George Osborne set the country a target of doubling UK exports to £1trn by 2020, though it is now widely thought that target will not be reached and there has been a recognition among Ministers that the UK is punching below its weight when it comes to overseas trade.

A smaller proportion of UK businesses export than their counterparts in France and Germany, while half of UK companies that start exporting goods or services give up within six years.

Two senior officials from the Department for International Trade will be at the Newcastle conference to discuss “why exporting is vital to the future of the UK”.