Trade is often discussed as a national policy issue, but it’s lived, day-to-day, as a regional one, shaped by local businesses, ports, Freeports, logistics networks, and supply chains that stretch across the UK.
This means, the UK’s trading system — how we move goods, attract investment, and support exporters — depends as much on local delivery as it does national policy. Yet for many businesses, the system still feels fragmented. Responsibilities are shared across central government, devolved administrations, and regional authorities, often without a single, clear view of where to go for help. This is why collaboration, clarity, and connectivity matter more than ever.
As one business leader put it at a recent trade conference: “I know how to sell my product. I just don’t know which door to knock on to do it faster.”
The first step is acknowledging trade isn’t just global, but regional. The second is knowing how devolution is changing the map of international trade.
Trade policy — negotiating agreements, setting tariffs, managing borders — remains reserved to Westminster. But how trade is delivered has become increasingly devolved and regional.
Each devolved administration now plays a major role in building its own trade ecosystem:
- Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have dedicated export and investment agencies, business networks, and trade development programmes.
- English regions are developing their own international trade strategies and growth plans, with mayors and combined authorities seeking to align trade with investment and innovation priorities.
- Freeports and Investment Zones are creating new local gateways for global commerce.
This evolution reflects the reality that trade and growth are deeply local and dependent on regional skills, infrastructure, and business communities. But it also highlights challenges and creates new complexity. Businesses operating across borders within the UK — from suppliers in Wales to customers in Scotland or Northern Ireland — encounter a patchwork of support and requirements. And it isn’t because the ambition isn’t there. The missing link is connection; the clear coordination between the national and devolved authorities, the strategic and the operational, if you will.
The opportunity: building a joined-up trading system
Devolution gives the UK a unique opportunity to design a trade system that combines local knowledge with national scale. It’s not about taking powers back or giving more away, but making them work harmoniously.
Already, there’s no shortage of progress or partnership:
- The UK’s trade policy frameworks are some of the most advanced globally, supported by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), UK Export Finance, and a growing network of trade agreements.
- Devolved governments and regions are becoming more proactive in international engagement, running trade missions and sectoral partnerships.
- Freeports and regional innovation clusters are catalysing investment and job creation in key growth sectors.
Alongside this, trade digitalisation is helping to modernise how goods, data, and finance move across borders. Though these developments create momentum, they also highlight the need for stronger coordination between departments, between nations, and between levels of government.
A joined-up approach could:
- Ensure that regional trade priorities feed directly into national strategy.
- Create a single, coherent offer for businesses seeking export support.
- Help regions attract investment by linking local strengths to global demand.
- Strengthen the UK’s competitiveness by removing duplication and administrative friction.
But what does a joined-up approach look like?
1. Shared priorities
Clear alignment between national trade strategy and devolved economic plans, ensuring each region’s strengths — from green energy to life sciences — are represented in global trade missions and agreements.
2. Connected services
Businesses should be able to access export support, financing, and compliance services through one coordinated pathway, regardless of location. That could mean a common entry point — physical or digital — linking devolved and national programmes.
3. Common standards and data
Shared standards for reporting, impact measurement, and trade performance would help both national and regional actors make better decisions.
4. Digital as an enabler, not a driver
Digitalisation — from interoperable data systems to paperless trade — can make coordination easier, but it’s a means to an end: a simpler, more responsive system that supports businesses wherever they are.
A joined-up approach doesn’t necessarily require massive changes, but it does require rethinking how councils and government collaborates and how traders interact with them.
The UK already has examples of what joined-up trade looks like:
- Teesside: where collaboration between DSIT, the Freeport, local authority, university, and industry has turned regional innovation into national leadership in trade testing and digitalisation.
- Scotland’s international network: combining trade, investment, and innovation under one umbrella, offering businesses a single interface to global opportunities.
- Northern Ireland’s dual-market access: despite its challenges, shows how pragmatic collaboration can deliver practical benefits when partners align around a shared goal.
Each demonstrates that success in trade isn’t just about policy but also partnership, clarity, and coordination.
The Transform perspective
The work we’ve done in public service design and economic growth has shown that simplifying trade is about more than just technology; it depends on aligning people, processes, and priorities.
Among other potential solutions, we could help governments and business:
- Align national strategy with regional ambition, ensuring that devolved trade priorities and local strengths are actively reflected in UK-wide trade plans, missions, and investment efforts.
- Map and redesign trade user journeys across regional ecosystems, making support easier to access for exporters, investors, and intermediaries, regardless of where they start.
- Deploy digital solutions that support integration; from shared data infrastructure to smarter onboarding, eligibility checks, and compliance workflows.
- Turn policy intent into delivery, by helping multi-agency programmes work as one through service design, governance models, and collaborative delivery across central and regional actors.
Let’s talk.