Currency moves cost small biz dear
Time to hedge
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Small business owners in the UK blame currency movements for threatening their ability to export goods - or at least to export goods profitably.
A survey of 365 business owners by the Forum of Private Business found 63 per cent said currency movements are a restriction on overseas trade. Just 31 per cent complained about increased shipping costs as a barrier.
Movements in exchange rates have hit profits at 44 per cent of companies questioned, although 26 per cent said profits have been improved by a shift in currencies.
Despite these figures less than half of small firms do anything to reduce the risks by hedging their currency purchasing.
Stewart Blake of Global Reach Partners, which paid for the research, said it was time currency management became a central part of normal risk management. Blake said web-based tools meant business owners could now manage currency risks quickly and easily. ®
COMMENTS
Exporters want to pound to go down the tube
As a small business which "exports" most of its business (as the UK no longer invests in technical know how) I feel obliged to point out that a weak pound is exactly what we want. Roll on parity is all I can say. The Pound going down mean UK income going up. The fact that the Euro is also going down the tubes is how ever bad news. Fortunately most of the world prefers to do business in USD which at the moment is going up in value compared with Stirling.
Export or Die.
Low pound
"Small business owners in the UK blame currency movements for threatening their ability to export goods - or at least to export goods profitably."
If they could not export goods profitably with the GBP at record lows over the last few years, then they are doomed, regardless of what/how they hedge.
The company that paid for the research is in the FX business and can apparently offer the sort of currency management services promoted^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hdiscussed in the article. There's a surprise :-)
Mindless regurgitation of press releases
Research paid for by company which provides currency exchange services shows that businesses lose money by not using currency exchange services.
No IT + no Paris + no humour + no BOFH + no tits = no point! ;-)

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