HUNDREDS of businesses across the region have been helped to export success by a Government trade promotion body.

Trade Partners UK has helped 28,000 UK companies to success in international trade, according to the organisation's latest annual review.

And it is not just companies working on major infrastructure projects worldwide, but also many small and medium- sized enterprises that have been helped by Trade Partners UK.

They include the Free 'n Easy Saddle Company in Teesdale, which now sells its specialised saddles in the US following a trade mission organised by Trade Partners UK.

And Aspire Gifts, of Wolsingham, County Durham, is exporting ceramic tiles coated in bronze, chrome and gold to the Netherlands after taking part in an Export Explorer visit.

Through its international trade teams around the English regions, sector specialists in London and Glasgow and its worldwide network of commercial offices, Trade Partners UK provides a range of services that helps companies at every stage in developing their international trade plans.

Commenting on the annual review, Minister for International Trade and Investment, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, said: "In Trade Partners UK there is now a single focused network to deliver its services at home and abroad.

"It is working hard with business to further develop its export services, and to keep Britain at the heart of the global market, creating both wealth and jobs.

John Williams, Trade Partners UK international trade director in the North-East, said: "Last year, we reorganised our Business Link International Trade Teams as part of a regional network, with a number of international trade advisors recruited to cover specialist areas on a regional basis.

"As a result, the International Trade Teams led nine Export Explorer visits, undertook 752 diagnostics and developed 302 action plans with businesses, 75 of which secured orders for the new exporters by the year end."