Support available to help SMEs attend or exhibit at overseas events

Small to medium-sized UK businesses exporting, or thinking about exporting, can apply for support to attend and exhibit at approved overseas trade shows and conferences. 

The UK government’s UK Tradeshow Programme aims to educate SMEs about the benefits of exhibiting, by providing both general and event-specific training on how to make the most of trade shows, with some businesses also receiving a grant of either £2,000 or £4,000 to contribute towards eligible exhibition costs such as stand costs, conference fees and promotional material. 

The support available through the programme varies. All successful applicants will receive training on successfully exhibiting at trade shows in general and the specific approved event(s) that they have applied for. 

The maximum number of successful applications available to individual organisations is limited to one for the lifetime of the UK Tradeshow Programme. Eligible businesses must be a small to medium-sized enterprise (less than 250 employees), based in the UK (excluding Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, and either sell products or services which substantially originate from the UK, or add significant value to a product or service of non-UK origin.

To be eligible for support, the business must be UK VAT registered, turning over annually between £250,000 to £5m and be exhibiting for the first time or wishing to venture into new markets. Applications must be made at least six weeks before the start of the event. 

Click here for full details of the UK Tradeshow Programme and how to apply.