UKEF’s mission is to advance prosperity by ensuring no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer.
What we do
UKEF helps UK companies:
- win export contracts by providing attractive financing terms to their buyers
- fulfil export contracts by supporting working capital loans and contract bonds
- get paid for export contracts by providing insurance against buyer default.
UKEF can support exports for any size of company and across all permissible sectors, from capital goods to services and intangibles such as intellectual property.
UKEF operates under its own Act of Parliament: the Export and Investment Guarantees Act 1991 (as amended). In performing its functions, UKEF operates with autonomy within the financial objectives and policies set out in a standing consent from HM Treasury.
Helping exporters win contracts overseas
UKEF can give overseas buyers attractive long-term financing that makes UK exporters’ offering more competitive by allowing buyers to spread the capital costs.
We provide support through:
- 100% unconditional guarantees to banks’ lending to overseas buyers to source from the UK
- lending directly to overseas buyers
- supporting capital market refinancing.
UKEF can offer an additional source of long-term funding, with repayment typically over two to ten years, but longer for certain sectors, e.g., up to 18 years for renewables. We can provide finance for up to 85% of contract value, and support is available in a range of currencies. Our international origination team works closely with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and with Posts overseas to identify appropriate opportunities.
Helping exporters fulfil export orders
UKEF can help companies access the working capital they need to fulfil an export contract, giving them the ability to take on more contracts and increase their turnover. We can offer:
- export finance guidance
- guarantees to UK companies’ banks who lend working capital for export orders
- contract bonds, freeing up working capital for exporters.
Making sure exporters get paid
We can help exporters manage risks in challenging markets, ensuring that they get paid even where the private market is not able to offer insurance. We can offer insurance against non-payment and loss if the contract is cancelled.
Who we support
UKEF works closely with exporters, banks, overseas project sponsors and buyers to provide its support for export contracts.
Helping exporters win contracts
The main demand comes from:
- manufacturers and suppliers of capital plant and equipment
- providers of engineering and project management services, e.g. for renewables, process plant projects and other professional services
- civil aircraft manufacturers and aero-engine suppliers, and
- suppliers of defence exports.
Helping exporters fulfil contracts and make sure they get paid
Request for support under these products is on the increase, and to date has come from such diverse sectors as:
- Creative and media
- Advanced manufacturing
- Education and training
- Construction
- Entertainment
UKEF Business Plan
Our strategy remains one of ambitious evolution, building on over a century’s experience and success to support businesses to invest, grow and export. UKEF is delivering against our Business Plan, launched at the beginning of the 2024-25 financial year. This plan revolves around five delivery objectives against which we can measure our success:
- Catalyse UK trade through UKEF’s world-leading export finance and insurance offer.
- Significantly increase the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that benefit from UKEF’s support.
- Support a broad range of businesses to export, driving local and inclusive growth across all regions of the UK.
- Position UK exporters and suppliers at the heart of the global low-carbon transition.
- Use our finance in developing markets to create positive impact on communities overseas and in the UK.
Those objectives are underpinned by five strategic enablers, designed to steer UKEF towards delivering the Business Plan:
- Putting our customer at the heart of everything we do
- Ensuring we have the right digital and data solutions to inform our activities
- Being purposeful and responsible with our risk taking
- Ensuring UKEF is an agile, fit-for-purpose organisation
- Making UKEF the best place to work for our people
You can read our Business plan, and find out more about the Department’s work in the latest Annual Report and Accounts.
Partners, Stakeholders and Observers
UKEF works closely with partners within government, most notably the Department for Business and Trade, HM Treasury, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the Cabinet Office.
Many other parties take a close interest in UKEF’s activities, including: the parliamentary select committees; all-party groups of MPs and individual MPs; exporter and trade representative bodies such as the British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry and the British Exporters Association; as well as special interest bodies such as Transparency International, Jubilee Debt Campaign and Greenpeace.
UKEF also liaises with industry sector bodies and professional services bodies such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, Association of British Insurers, the British Insurance Brokers Association and UK Finance, and their members.
Our work is varied and complex, spanning all business sectors and all corners of the world. UKEF is delighted to have been named best ECA by Global Trade Review and Trade Finance Global magazines in 2023. This is a recognition of our innovative approach to supporting exporters, comprehensive product offering and substantial appetite to take on new business.
A Greener Future
UKEF is leading the world of export finance into a greener future. In our first Climate Change Strategy – published in 2021, ahead of COP26 – we committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, becoming one of the first ECAs to make that important commitment.
Our Sustainability Strategy 2024-2029 lays out our ambitious plans to support UK exporters and suppliers through the global transition to net zero and embed consideration of climate change into our business. Not only is this vital for our planet, but it is also in the UK’s interest as we develop clean growth through supply chains in net zero technologies. Providing £10 billion of clean growth finance by 2029 is a core objective in our Business Plan and UKEF is on track to driving progress on decarbonising our portfolio and managing our exposure to climate risk.
Further information on the organisation can be found on UKEF’s website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-export-finance
About the UKEF Board
UKEF is a ministerial department of state exercising statutory powers under the Export and Investments Guarantees Act 1991 (as amended) (EIGA). UKEF’s Chief Executive is the Accounting Officer responsible to Ministers and Parliament for the management of UKEF, including the stewardship of financial resources and assets.
The UKEF Board, whose role is advisory, supports both the Accounting Officer and Ministers responsible for UKEF through operational oversight and by providing advice and challenge. The board is led by a non-executive Chair. Its membership comprises a majority of non-executive board members, including ex-officio representatives from DBT, UK Government Investments, and the Export Guarantees Advisory Council (EGAC), and three executive directors (the Chief Executive, the Chief Risk Officer and the Chief Finance and Operating Officer). There is also an observer from HM Treasury, which sets the financial framework, comprising financial objectives and reporting requirements, within which UKEF operates, per the EIGA.
The non-executive members are appointed by Ministers through open competition based on relevant expertise and merit. They provide Ministers, usually via the Chair of the Board, with an independent source of scrutiny and provide the Chief Executive with guidance on strategic and operational issues, UKEF’s financial performance and our arrangements for financial reporting, risk management and control. A register of board members’ directorships and major shareholdings is published on UKEF’s website.
The board has three sub-committees: the Audit Committee, the Risk Committee, and the People Committee, which was created in 2025 and subsumes the former Nomination and Remuneration Committees. Membership of these sub-committees comprises non-executive board members, including ex-officio board members.
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Non-Executive Directors
Robert Gillespie, Chair
- Robert’s executive career has included roles as Global Head of Investment Banking at UBS Investment Bank and Director General of the Takeover Panel.
- He has served non-executive roles as Non-Executive Director at NatWest Group, Independent Board Member at Ashurst and Chairman of the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race.
Tom Cooper, Non-Executive Director
- Director of UK Government Investments, he has served on three Boards as HMG’s representative: Post Office, OneWeb; and EastWest Rail. His previous career in finance involved being global M&A Chair at Deutsche Bank. He started his career at KMPG and was at UBS Investment Bank for 21 years where his various roles included Head of European M&A.
Joanna Crellin, Non-Executive Director
- Director General, Domestic and International Markets and Exports at the Department for Business and Trade.
- Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Latin America and the Caribbean between April 2018 and November 2020.
Tim Frost, Non-Executive Director, Risk Committee Chair
- Co-founder of Cairn Capital and a non-executive director of Cairn Capital Group Limited. Spent 15 years at JP Morgan, latterly as European Head of Credit Sales, Trading and Research.
- An Emeritus Governor of the London School of Economics, Tim was previously a Director on the Bank of England Court for six years.
Vanessa Havard-Williams, Ex-Officio Member of UKEF Board, EGAC Chair
- Recently leader of the Linklaters global environmental and climate change practice and co-head of the Risk and Resilience and Crisis Management teams. Has an in-depth understanding of environmental, social and governance issues; and experience in project finance with export credit agencies. She works internationally on issues critical to UKEF such as environment, climate and human rights.
- Joined the Export Guarantees Advisory Council (EGAC) in February 2020. Appointed Interim Chair of EGAC 1st January 2023.
Jacqueline Keogh, Non-Executive Director
- A financial services executive with 30 years’ experience.
- Senior Advisor at the Financial Conduct Authority and previously held senior roles at Western Union, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered and SWIFT.
Andrew Gray, Non-Executive Director, Audit Committee Chair
- A former partner at PwC with 36 years’ experience in corporate banking, trade finance, international payments, cash management, and credit risk management, including IFRS 9 adoption and compliance.
- Currently, he is a non-executive director at the Epilepsy Society and Cboe Europe,
Kimberly Wiehl, Non-Executive Director
- Ten years as Secretary-General of the Berne Union, the global association of credit and investment insurers, of which UKEF was a founding member. Previously spent 20 years at JPMorgan.
- Board member of the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC), which supports female entrepreneurs, and the Executive Committee of the SHARE Fellowship, which offers scholarships and mentorship to exceptional students from developing countries.
Executive Directors
Tim Reid, Chief Executive Officer
- Appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2023.
- Joined UKEF in 2022 as Director of Business Group. He was previously at HSBC, where he spent 34 years in a variety of roles. At HSBC, he managed businesses across Europe, the Americas and the Middle East and North Africa, and was most recently the Global Head of Transaction Banking for the bank’s Global Banking division.
Cameron Fox, Chief Finance and Operating Officer
- Joined UKEF in January 2006 and has held a number of Finance positions within the organisation over this period. Previously worked at HMT on a number of finance projects.
- Also worked as an accountant in Audit & Tax Services for a number of public and private sector organisations.
Samir Parkash, Chief Risk Officer
- Joined UKEF in 2018 from the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was the Managing Director for credit for large corporates.
- Previously led RBS’s credit functions for industrials and corporates in Asia Pacific.
- Extensive background in risk management in the banking sector, with more than 25 years’ experience across numerous geographies and sectors.