Government scraps trade show support for UK fashion and textile exporters
The UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) has cancelled the Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP), which industry association UK Fashion and Textiles (UKFT) described as “catastrophic".
UKFT said it had worked companies and the government to ensure the grants are used in the most effective way and that household names such as Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Abraham Moon, Harris Tweed Hebrides, Sunspel, Christopher Raeburn and Liberty Fabrics had been launched at such events.
It has written to Graham Stuart MP, minister for exports at DIT, and Stephen Barclay MP, chief secretary to the treasury, to request an urgent meeting and clarification of the government plans.
Adam Mansell, CEO at UKFT, said: “During the pandemic and the approach to Brexit, we were baffled to see that the UK was the only European country not to increase its support for export businesses. Support was effectively mothballed for 14 months while the Treasury reviewed the TAP scheme. The decision to cancel TAP without having a viable alternative is catastrophic as we start to come out of the pandemic.”
