Nearly half of businesses see a future in overseas expansion, Expacare has found. However, the international PMI provider also found significant barriers remained.
Its report, "Anatomy of an International Business", said 43% of businesses are either considering a move to trading overseas in the future or hoping to further strengthen their established international foothold.
Furthermore, over three fifths of SMEs (64%) said that they think that doing business overseas is set to become commonplace for businesses in the future, revealing a real appetite for operating in foreign marketplaces.
Many (34%) were already making the most of EU rules which allow them to operate there. But businesses are also increasingly looking to spread their wings further afield with 39% hoping to move to Scandinavia and 36% looking to capitalise on business opportunities in the emerging BRIC countries.
Businesses said they face a number of challenges if they are to achieve their goal; 18% of firms were restricted by language barriers, 17% don't think they get enough support (e.g. from Government) to feel confident of the move and 16% would have difficulty managing different tax/regulatory regimes.
I addition a fifth of respondents (20%) said that motivating and recruiting staff to go overseas was seen as the biggest obstacle.
As a result, the benefits package plays a crucial role in attracting and keeping staff motivated. In terms of core elements of the package, international businesses place higher importance on keeping their staff fit and healthy than companies operating solely in the UK.
Nearly a third (32%) stating that when considering benefits packages for staff overseas, private health insurance was the most popular, ahead of share options (30%) and relocation allowance (24%).
Beverly Cook, Managing Director of Expacare, commented: "When businesses are looking to move overseas it is also crucial that they look after their most important asset - their staff. It therefore makes especially pleasing reading to see that businesses see international private healthcare cover as a priority in their expansion process."
