The new industry-led body championing the importance of services trade to the UK economy, and identifying common barriers to trade across different sectors.
The UK economy is fundamentally services based, making up 80% of the economy, while growth in global markets is predominantly in services and digital in the coming decades. Trade in services is therefore a key strategic opportunity for UK economic growth and is an absolute priority on the UK trade agenda.
Related insights and events
- From the desk of Rain Newton-Smith - Trade in services: A forgotten opportunity
- CBI @10am: Trade in services: where next for the UK's relationship with the EU?
Find out more about the Trade in Services Council
***NEW*** Trade in Service Policy Papers
As part of the Council’s work, policy priorities cutting across all services sectors are being championed with government:
10 policy levers to grow UK services trade
The Council has identified ten policy priorities that the Government can pursue to support UK services companies in trading overseas. These are split between domestic measures to boost competitiveness, and working with international partners to unlock new opportunities for businesses. Read the report here.
The movement of staff in and out of the UK to deliver projects can be crucial to business success. There are a number of tools at the Government’s disposal, either through liberalising short-term visas to longer-term immigration reform that can help services companies have access to the right skills. Read the recommendations here.
Purpose of the council
The UK economy is fundamentally services based, making up 80% of the economy, while growth in global markets is predominantly in services and digital in the coming decades. Trade in services is therefore a key strategic opportunity for UK economic growth and is an absolute priority on the UK trade agenda.
The Trade in Services Council (TISC) brings together a collective voice for cross-services priorities, speaking for all services sectors and businesses of all sizes across the UK. It aims to give strategic direction and impetus behind three areas:
- Promoting the UK services sectors, articulating their importance to the economy, and mobilising services firms to take advantage of new trade opportunities.
- Identifying common barriers to services trade.
- Supporting better coordination of trade in services promotional and policy work across UK government departments and ensuring export promotion is tailored to the needs of services companies.
Crucially, this is not only about services as a huge contributor to the balance of trade as an export in their own right; one third of the value of goods trade can be attributed to the services embedded in them. The link between goods and services trade is essential to understand as the government continues with its ambitious post-Brexit trade agenda.
How the council operates
The Steering Committee, made up of senior representatives of industry groups, meets at least every six months to review progress in achieving Council objectives. The Steering Committee is chaired by CBI Chief Economist, Rain Newton-Smith.
Workstreams are being identified by the Steering Committee and individual Council members lead depending on the subject matter. The TISC complements existing structures such as DIT’s Trade Advisory Groups (TAGs).
How the council will work with government
The government supported the creation of the TISC in November’s Export Strategy. DIT have a seat on the Council as an observer, while other government departments such as BEIS and HMT also have observer seats.
The TISC is independent of government and is industry-led but will feed in collective priorities of services industries across government departments. Government officials will hear directly from the Council through the observer seats.
Workstreams
There was consensus around three overarching areas where the Council can add value. These working groups have been created:
- Campaign promoting and articulating the importance of services to the UK economy with improved data on services trade.
- Promotional activity to improve understanding and awareness of trade in services contribution to the economy to be developed with existing data sets
- Proposals to improve services data trade with partners such as the ONS, including the relationship between goods and services
- Demonstrating best practice on services export promotion.
- This will look at international best practice and help inform the government’s export promotion for services companies across the UK.
- The group will also identify how the Export Strategy can practically deliver for services.
- Strategic promotion of common trade in services policy positions across Whitehall.
- Promote policy positions where there is a consensus on issues such as mobility and data to improve government policy
- Brief the cross-Whitehall DG group to help them set their priorities by the end of the year.
- Identify, with examples, areas of domestic policy which have unintended consequences for services trade.
Terms of reference
The purpose of the Trade in Services Council (TISC) is to bring a collective, strategic, and long-term vision for UK services trade and promote the importance of services to the UK economy.
The TISC will represent the interests of services businesses of all sizes across the whole of the UK.
Council minutes
30 March 2022
Read the minutes, here.
For more information, email the Trade In Services team.
