High Value Opportunities

Question

How can SME companies get involved & included in the supply chain for HVO as we wouldn’t figure in the tendering process but could provide products & services to some of the companies who are supplying in to the major projects?

How could we find out which companies we could be supplying to & would anyone in HVO be able to assimilate that information in relation to the major project?

Answer

Anne,
As you know the High Value Opportunity (HVO) programme focuses on large (mainly) infrastructure projects overseas that have a potential accessible value to the UK of more than £250 Million.

I am one of the Business Specialists working on a number of HVOs.

Our task is to connect UK Companies, large and small that can deliver against demand across the HVO project lifecycle. From inception and master planning, design and engineering, through construction down to the key tier two supply chain and main operational suppliers.

As part of the HVO process, each project is assessed for its match to UK capability, and we use a combination of UK Trade & Investments own Company information, Trade Associations and bespoke research, to identify and connect with UK Business (large and small) that can meet the specific demand at each stage of the project.

When we contacted a UK Company, we also contact the UK Trade & Investment’s local representative (usually an International Trade Advisor) to ensure that the company also receives the full range of services and continued support that UK Trade & Investment can provide to facilitate their exports.

Finally we also use the UK Trade & Investment Business Opportunities web site to advertise the opportunities as they arise to ensure that UK Companies registered for business alerts also receive the opportunity details and consequently an opportunity to become connected with the projects.

SMEs feature all stages of the above process.

Answer

Hello Steven

Thank you for your response. Whilst I understand what you are saying I don’t see how this gets to the wider supply chain necessarily to smaller SME’s.

My own company supplies into the oil & gas sector, aerospace & the rail sector. However, we will be so far removed from an oil rig unless we have a way of letting you know of our services you may not know who we are & what we can do.

Many small companies will not be members of any trade association or come to light in your research. But if there was a way to show who is already involved in the project higher up the chain we and others like us could then proffer our services & products to those organisations.

At the Asia task force event in London yesterday it was confirmed that for HVO projects the UK major participants are supposed to bring along the supply chain but it doesn’t happen. It seems they source the goods required elsewhere.

How can we reverse that trend & more of the supplies going from the UK with Uk companies?

Answer

Anne,
Yes, I understand your challenge.
A solution would be to take the following proactive steps:

1. Keep up to date with the HVO projects by following them on the UK Trade & Investment web site http://www.ukti.gov.uk/export/howwehelp/item/219720.html . You will see that they are divided into sectors so you can easily find the projects that you could supply. You can submit (after registering) a request for more information that will be picked up by the relevant HVO team. When I receive such an enquiry for one of my projects, I follow it up with a phone call to ascertain how UKTI can help. Connecting our UK supply chain to these projects at the correct level is a regular activity for the HVO teams
FYI, additional new HVO projects will be added in the next weeks.

2. Registering your Company on the website http://www.ukti.gov.uk/home.html?guid=none for Business Opportunities will ensure you receive notice of worldwide business opportunities that are preselected to match your areas of interest (you have to set up your preference). These come right to your e-mail box from across the UKTI network of 96 countries.

3. Contacting your local International Trade Advisor (ITA) who will visit you to get to know your products and your areas of interest. The ITA will also be able to tell you about the range of services that are available to ensure your Company is “market ready” and to offer you the opportunity to join many of the promotional activities and missions abroad designed to showcase UK capability and of course your Company. The ITA will also be able to help you connect with the HVO teams.
If you need assistance with any of the above or would like to talk further, do contact me on [email protected]

KR
Steven Spalding

Export Action Plan