The General Export Facility (GEF) provides partial guarantees to banks to help UK exporters to gain access to trade finance facilities. Through GEF, they can support the following facility types, with maximum repayment terms of up to 5 years:
- cash facilities such as trade loans
- contingent obligation facilities such as bonding and letter of credit lines
GEF is able to support facilities valued up to around £25 million. For facilities with values over £25 million, contact your local Export Finance Manager (see below) as one of UKEF’s other schemes may be suitable.
How it works
The benefits of GEF for UK exporters include:
- More flexibility – the availability of UKEF’s guarantee helps UK exporters to negotiate more flexible trade finance facilities with participating banks. In turn, these facilities can provide or unlock more working capital to support the growth of UK exporting businesses
- Greater certainty – in contrast to some of UKEF’s other schemes, with GEF UK exporters do not need to evidence any individual export contracts. Putting non-contract specific facilities in place will allow UK exporters to focus on their overall growth without worrying as to whether an export opportunity will be deemed supportable or not
- Improved accessibility – UKEF has provided delegated authority to participating banks of up to £5 million per UK exporter. Whenever an application for GEF support meets certain criteria, UKEF’s guarantee will be automatically granted to the participating bank which therefore minimises application response times. The general nature of GEF will also appeal to exporters who do not routinely enter into large, single export contracts
Eligibility criteria
In order to access the scheme, you must satisfy the bank’s and UKEF’s criteria. One of the key requirements is that the exporter must be able to declare:
- in any one of the last three financial years, at least 20% of their annual turnover has been made up of UK export sales
Or:
- in each of the last three financial years, at least 5% of their annual turnover has been made up of UK export sales
Additionally, the exporter must be able to declare:
- they have premises in the UK
- they have employees in the UK
- they pay UK or Isle of Man/Channel Islands National Insurance Contributions or Corporation Tax
- they manufacture goods, deliver services or produce intangibles from the UK, which would (if required) qualify for a UK Chambers of Commerce Certificate of Origin
And/or:
- they do not solely engage in the supply of goods that have been manufactured outside of the UK or services where the person contracted to perform the services ordinarily carries on business outside the UK
UKEF Guarantee Fee
The guaranteed bank pays UKEF a guarantee fee. This fee is a proportion of the interest margin paid by the UK exporter to the bank for providing the facility.
How to apply
To access GEF, exporters should discuss their potential application with their bank. There are currently five participating banks:
- Barclays Bank plc
- HSBC Bank plc
- Lloyds Banking Group/Bank of Scotland plc
- The Royal Bank of Scotland plc /National Westminster Bank plc /Ulster Bank
- Santander UK plc
UKEF is keen to expand the range of its partners.
To find out more about our General Export Facility or to discuss eligibility for our support, contact our customer services team.
Contact customer.service@ukexportfinance.gov.uk or call +44 (0)20 7271 8010.
Contact details for approved lenders
Contact your bank for further guidance.
| Lender | Contact | Telephone | |
| Barclays Bank Plc | Mathew Enright, Vice President, Trade and Working Capital | 020 7116 3999 | mathew.enright@barclays.com |
| HSBC Bank Plc | Liz Ambler (London and South East) | N/A | elizabethambler@hsbc.com |
| Matt Osborn (Midlands, South West and Wales) | N/A | matt.j.osborn@hsbc.com | |
| Jill Hague (North, including Scotland and Northern Ireland) | N/A | jillhague@hsbc.com | |
| Lloyds Banking Group/Bank of Scotland Plc | Trade Finance | N/A | TradeFinance@lloydsbanking.com |
| National Westminster Bank Plc | Chris Duggan, SolutionsLine Team | 0800 2100235 | internationalbanking@natwest.com |
| The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc | Chris Duggan, SolutionsLine Team | 0800 2100235 | internationalbanking@rbs.co.uk |
| Santander UK Plc | Trade and Supplier Finance | N/A | tradeandsupplierfinanceproduct@santander.co.uk |
Local Finance Managers
For facilities with values over £25 million, contact your local Export Finance Manager, for any general enquiries, please contact the customer helpline
New business enquiries
Email customer.service@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Alternatively, you can contact your local export finance manager directly to book a free consultation.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
Senior Export Finance Manager
Jon Boyce
Email jon.boyce@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7990 887 852
Northern Ireland – Export Finance Manager
Elizabeth McCrory
Email elizabeth.mccrory@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7435 323 231
Scotland – Export Finance Manager
- Aberdeen
- Highlands and Islands
- Tayside
John Brown
Email john.brown@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone + 44 (0) 7900 135 529
Scotland – Export Finance Manager
All areas except Aberdeenshire, Highlands and Islands, and Western Scotland
Carol Harvey
Email carol.harvey@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7817 830 833
Scotland – Export Finance Manager
Focuses on the renewables and clean tech sectors
Alistair McMillan
Email alistair.mcmillan@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7880 479858
Wales – Export Finance Manager
Christian Syme
Email christian.syme@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7580 745923
North
Senior Export Finance Manager
- North East
- Teeside
Patrick Kendell
Email patrick.kendell@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7568 101892
North of England – Export Finance Manager
Rachel Ashley
Email rachel.ashley@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone + 44 (0) 7909 099 405
North West (North) – Export Finance Manager
- Cumbria
- Greater Manchester North (Bolton, Bury, North Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale and Wigan)
- Lancashire
Steve Cowles
Email steve.cowles@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7966 308 452
North West (South) – Export Finance Manager
- Cheshire
- Greater Manchester South (Salford, South Manchester, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford)
- Merseyside
Kevin Ledwith
Email kevin.ledwith@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7580 742 518
Humberside, Teeside and Yorkshire – Export Finance Manager
Ulviyya Huseynova
Email ulviyya.huseynova@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7795 306192
Humberside and Yorkshire – Export Finance Manager
Robin Priestley
Email robin.priestley@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0) 7964 108726
Midlands and South West
Herefordshire and Worcestershire – Senior Export Finance Manager
Phill Potter
Email phill.potter@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7866 480 996
Export Finance Manager
- Bristol
- Cornwall
- Devon
- Dorset
- Gloucestershire
- Somerset
- Wiltshire
Hugh Francis
Email hugh.francis@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7880 358 220
Shropshire, the Black Country and Staffordshire – Export Finance Manager
Anne Lockett
Email anne.lockett@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7580 742 532
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland – Export Finance Manager
Andy Mannix
Email andy.mannix@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7825 276 476
Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire – Export Finance Manager
Jo Archer
Email Jo.Archer@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7580 742 517
Birmingham, Coventry and Warwickshire, Leicestershire – Export Finance Manager
Jane Cooper
Email jane.cooper@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44(0)7580 745 925
South
Hampshire, Isle of Wight – Senior Export Finance Manager
Julie Robertson
Email julie.robertson@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0) 7791 796217
Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire – Export Finance Manager
Craig Green
Email craig.green@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7791 796 170
Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk – Export Finance Manager
Richard Hill
Email richard.hill@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone + 44 (0)7587 884465
Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex – Export Finance Manager
Lisa Maddison-Brown
Email lisa.maddison-brown@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7976 727419
London (Central and West) – Export Finance Manager
Hitesh Patel
Email hitesh.patel@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0)7794 051 934
London (City and East) – Export Finance Manager
Colin Hawes
Email colin.hawes@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone + 44 (0) 7733 925 445
London (North East) – Export Finance Manager
Jonathan Dowell
Email jonathan.dowell@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone + 44 (0)7817 830543
Surrey, Berkshire, Oxfordshire
Richard Armstrong
Email richard.armstrong@ukexportfinance.gov.uk
Telephone +44 (0) 7917 837814