Since the EU referendum, the US has overtaken EU to become the most popular market for the UK’s aspiring scaleups looking to expand overseas.

There are many factors that early stage, high-growth businesses consider when they are planning which foreign markets to target to achieve growth. The most important driver identified by our community was market size, although significant secondary drivers included familiarity with the culture, access to talent and existing networks. 

Top drivers for UK scaleups choosing foreign export markets

The volume of UK exports to the US is greater than any individual EU country and the weakness of the sterling against the dollar is likely to make UK exports even more appealing to US consumers. The strength of the UK-US trade relationship is based partly on common language, as well as similarities in business, culture and shared understanding of processes and priorities. Both the US and the UK are innovation economies. Indeed the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry has dominated transatlantic mergers and acquisitions activity in both directions, with the majority of deals taking place in New York and California.