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Not since the recession of the early 1990s have UK companies faced such a harsh business environment. That’s particularly true for the countries’ small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Thousands of businesses across the country are being forced to close. Entrepreneurs are having trouble getting access to working capital. And companies everywhere are under pressure to cut prices and accept slower customer payments.

But don’t rule out a strong revival for SMEs. UK business owners are highly creative and adaptable, and quick to seize new market opportunities. One reason for optimism is the problem-solving approach of many UK businesses and entrepreneurs who quickly and creatively respond to the market. Companies have proven nimble in response to cost pressure, searching out ever more cost effective methods of doing business. As demand for goods in the UK market has declined during the recession, firms that would previously have traded domestically are now looking further afield and branching out into international trade in a bid to boost their business and survive the downturn.

One such example is Minster Giftware, a family business employing 22 people in Nottingham. Managing director Ian Guise first had his eyes opened to the world of international trade while on a business trip to China and has been developing and consolidating trade links across Europe, India and the Far East through the Alibaba.com platform.

The company now imports direct and supplies homewares to companies of all sizes throughout Europe, including the launch of a brand new product line sourced entirely through Alibaba.com.In this economic climate, Ian firmly believes that the efficiencies afforded by Alibaba.com not only helped him to gain a competitive edge but also to maintain it. And to be able to pass significant cost savings on to customers for products that are extremely stylish and often highly specialised, is an added bonus.A second cause for hope is that many SMEs are adept at finding opportunity in crisis.

According to a nationwide Alibaba.com survey conducted in August, more than one in three UK entrepreneurs are considering starting a new business despite the economic gloom that’s characterizing the current UK business landscape. Indeed, downturns can open doors for smart small businesses —good employees are easier to find, office space is cheaper, and as bigger businesses pull back, gaps open in the market.

Gaps such as these are encouraging SMEs to target markets previously dominated by larger enterprises such as exporting/international trade. Berkshire based Eagle Technologies, a supplier of customisable card ID printers/systems and consumables, has expanded its reach into the international market using the Alibaba.com platform and is now enjoying increased profits as a result.

The company now has over 700 dealer clients throughout the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East - there isn’t a single European country Eagle Technologies doesn’t sell into at present. Managing director, Chris Raynor, firmly believes that if he hadn’t found Alibaba.com, the company wouldn’t be enjoying the international success it does today and has attributed their success in Singapore and Asia entirely to the platform.

The company is also receiving new enquiries from the Phillipines and expanding into the Indian market via partnerships forged through Alibaba.com. The platform has also provided lucrative opportunities in the form of partnerships with other Alibaba.com traders.

Eagle Technologies have recently formed a partnership with a fellow Alibaba.com trader who produce specialist card printer cleaning products. Eagle Technologies have been able to OEM the products under their own Eagle Technologies Plus-Clean™ brand and as a direct result, have seen profit margins on cleaning products rise from 11% to 80%. It is thanks to new business opportunities such as this that the company is continuing to grow throughout the recession.

Moves made by UK companies like Minster and Eagle to seize every opportunity available to them reaffirms my faith in the region’s SMEs and bodes well for the future. Indeed, more than half of those entrepreneurs who took part in our recent survey agree with me and believe that the next great British company will be born during the current recession. Entrepreneurial creativity helped drive the expansion of the UK private sector. The same spirit will help the economy pull through the current crisis.

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