Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on domestic British glass manufactures as a result of the decision by UK Export Finance to finance £100m for a new bottle plant in Belgium.

In its role as the UK’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF) provided a loan guarantee on commercial terms that will enable UK companies to supply goods and services to the Belgian bottle plant.

Through this guaranteed loan, UKEF is supporting Tecoglas Limited, a Sheffield based company, which will export two glass furnaces and is expected to back a further 15 UK SMEs in its supply chain, helping to secure and support UK jobs.