Manage overseas suppliers

Finding overseas suppliers

As with finding a domestic supplier, careful research is key to identifying overseas suppliers. You will have to identify countries to trade with, as well as individual suppliers within those countries.

Identifying suitable countries

For most goods and materials you can choose to import from a wide range of countries. Expect a trade-off between prices and levels of regulation and protection. Suppliers in developing countries may be cheaper but it may be more difficult to resolve any problems.

Factors that should influence your decision include:

• familiarity with the country - knowing your target country and having contacts within your sector there makes doing business easier
• communication - if you (or your employees) don't speak the local language, check that English is widely spoken by businesses, or whether there are translators and interpreters available
• whether or not a country is a European Union (EU) member - if it is, many key regulations and standards will be similar to or the same as in the UK 
• level of development - it's generally easier to trade with developed countries than developing ones
• how far away the country is - this affects shipping costs, the length of your trading cycle, and the ease of visiting suppliers, if necessary
• levels of existing trade with the UK - high volumes suggest other businesses have successfully chosen the route you're considering

Identifying suitable suppliers

There are many sources of information about potential suppliers, including:

• your local UK Trade & Investment team - find your local international trade team on the UK Trade & Investment website - Opens in a new window 
• trade associations for your sector - find trade associations for your industry on the Trade Association Forum website - Opens in a new window
• other importers in your sector
• banks' trade services departments
• overseas trade visits and exhibitions
• the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) - find contact details for Chambers of Commerce in your source country on the BCC website - Opens in a new window
• your target countries' embassy in the UK - find your target countries' embassy on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) website - Opens in a new window
• membership organisations for businesses trading between the UK and your source countries

Trade-services suppliers

Remember you may need secondary suppliers to help with the trading process, such as freight forwarders or import agents to handle shipping and customs-related formalities and documentation.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• The challenges of sourcing overseas
• Finding overseas suppliers
• Choosing an overseas supplier
• Building solid relationships with overseas suppliers
• Methods of paying overseas suppliers
• Drawing up contracts with overseas suppliers

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