Attending overseas trade shows can help you to promote and grow your business in new markets.
They provide a great opportunity to make new contacts as well as develop knowledge of the market in which you are looking to expand.
However, exhibiting at, or even just attending overseas trade shows can be a costly outlay, especially for smaller companies with little cash flow.
To help businesses offset some of the costs, the Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP) provides grant funding for eligible companies towards exhibiting at overseas trade shows.
Each year, in conjunction with relevant TAP trade challenge partners, the Department for International Trade (DIT) agrees which shows they will support UK businesses to attend. In some cases grants may also be agreed to help towards direct conference costs where the purpose of attending is to promote the business, for example, through providing support for conference fees or the cost of preparing conference promotional material.
A maximum number of six grants will be available to individual companies, which can be used for any market segment and grants must not exceed the business’s own expenditure on direct exhibiting costs, for example exhibition space costs or stand costs, including design, construction and stand presentation.
In addition to providing monetary support, to help ensure maximum benefit from the presence in attending any show, the TAP trade challenge partner provides support for businesses through advising and mentoring participants before, during and after the event.
To find out more about the Tradeshow Access Programme, including eligibility criteria and how to apply, visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tradeshow-access-programme
If the Tradeshow Access Programme has interested you in exploring the scheme, and overseas opportunities further, but you’re still unsure as to how attending an overseas trade show could truly be of benefit to you then why not check out our blog ‘How can exhibiting at International trade shows benefit your business?’