EIGHTEEN months ago the Chancellor, George Osborne, threw down the gauntlet to British businesses.

Determined to drive economic growth by doing more business in growing markets such as Brazil, Russia India and China, he called for exports to be doubled to £1trillion by 2020.

It was a bold statement of intent but is that ambitious target really achievable? Only if businesses are get more support.

In fairness to the Government they do offer a range of support to encourage overseas trade through UK Trade & Investment, including trade missions, in-country contacts and funding such as insurance against non-payment from overseas customers and guaranteeing bank loans.

But we cannot rest on our laurels. Even more needs to be done to cut red tape, one of the biggest factors holding businesses back in their quest to break into new markets.

Greater support is also needed to help steer British businesses through the complexities of tax legislation, which is another minefield when trying to do business abroad.

One of our clients has been trading in the United States since 2008. They specialise in putting on theatre productions and were advised when they first went out there that they needed to register with the US tax authorities simply to obtain a tax identifying number. There was no requirement for them to pay US withholding tax. Unfortunately, in 2011 the US Treasury changed their viewpoint on the collection of withholding taxes by theatres and other venues on fees paid to overseas businesses. This resulted in our client paying the full rate of US withholding tax on all of its US sourced fees.

When we reviewed the US/UK Double Tax Treaty on behalf of our client, it became clear that the production fees were in fact exempt from US withholding tax.

Once identified it was a case of liaising with our colleague at Nisivoccia in New Jersey, which, like Cassons, is a member of BKR, a global association of independent accounting and business advisory firms.

The upshot was, earlier this year our client received a substantial repayment of tax from the US Treasury, which has helped significantly. Now they are considering taking tours to parts of the world they haven’t been.

We enjoy a great trading tradition here in the UK and we should relish exploring and penetrating new markets, extending existing ones and the thrill and challenge of innovation.

Our research capability, our inventiveness and our ideas are often the envy of the world and we must make more of them.

Doing business abroad is not without its pitfalls but if you do your homework, it can take your business to the next level.