Export potential

I agree with Bill Jamieson (Between the Lines, 8 June) that recent export figures are distracting and Scotland is more than capable of stepping up its performance. In many sectors, it is already happening. There is no doubt many of the Scottish businesses we deal with recognise that the export market offers a genuine opportunity.

By The Newsroom

Published 9th Jun 2010, 20:03 BST

Updated 9th Jun 2010, 20:14 BST

Grant Thornton's international network is being called upon increasingly to provide resources for those companies with the ambition to take their ideas and high value goods overseas.

There are also good role models to follow. The premiumisation in the whisky sector over the past ten years or so and the exporting of oil and gas expertise in the same period are excellent examples of what can be achieved with an outward perspective. Exports are a clear route to recovery and growth and companies need to be encouraged to make international trade a fundamental part of their business thinking.

ROBERT HANNAH

Managing partner

Grant Thornton

Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh