Britain tops sports trading league

BRITAIN is top of the league in sports exports as sales hit record levels, figures have revealed.

As the Premier League, the world’s most-watched football series begins its new season tonight, overseas sales of equipment are hitting new highs.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said: “As football fever sweeps the nation, there’s one team we can all get behind and that’s team Great Britain.

“It’s clear the country is open for business with record levels of sporting kit flying off the shelves.

“We see British influence in football across the globe, from tracksuits to goal-line technology, the demand for British goods and services is greater than ever.”

Some £315million worth of sports footwear, £127million worth of tracksuits and £9million of inflatable balls were sold overseas in the past year, Department of International Trade analysis showed.

The value of exported sports footwear is up 14 per cent since 2015 and by 193 per cent since 2010,.

Examples of British success stories include Bristol-based Pitchmark, founded in 2010 by husband and wife Mark and Sue Rodman to make line-marking easier.

Dr Fox’s department has helped them access expert support and their business making and distributing paint and equipment is on target to turn over £1.2million this year, with 80 per cent of its trade being with overseas customers in more than 20 countries.

Overall trade statistics for the latest calendar year have shown that UK exports of all goods and services were up 5.8 per cent since 2015 at nearly £548billion last year.