Government should tap into the expertise of UK entrepreneurs, including recruiters, as it seeks to secure trade deals in a post-Brexit world, according to global recruiter Antal International chief executive and chairman Tony Goodwin.

This morning government announced it is to increase its internal expertise to secure international trade deals with the recruitment of 300 specialist staff, including new trade negotiators, possibly prompted by the UK’s vote to leave the European Union a fortnight ago.

The new hires, to be in place in by the end of the year, were announced by business secretary Sajid Javid this morning.

The move follows preliminary trade talks the business secretary is holding with India later today, when he meets the Indian finance and commerce ministers during talks in Delhi. 

Speaking to Recruiter this morning, Goodwin called on government to consult with UK entrepreneurs from business ranging from recruitment, manufacturing and web businesses, before attempting to secure new international trade deals.

In March, Goodwin told Recruiter he had launched a campaign to attract new franchisees to Iran, a country that only recently came out of the political cold since the lifting of international economic sanctions.

“I think they should start with me! They should start with entrepreneurs that have opened with businesses in all those countries,” Goodwin said.

“I don’t mean your corporate people who have worked with big companies and gone out there. I mean people who have actually pioneered and gone out there and done it themselves without the infrastructure of a BP or a GlaxoSmithKline who haven’t had the luxury and comfort of being able to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on research and market testing before they go out there.

“They need people who have really gone out there and done it.”

According to a government statement business secretary Javid will use his meetings with Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley and Indian commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman to outline his vision for what a future trade relationship between the UK and India might look like outside the EU.

The India visit marks the first in a series of trade meetings Javid will conduct over the coming months, which also is expected to include trips to the US, China, Japan and South Korea.

Alongside visiting Delhi, the business secretary will also be in Mumbai where he will meet senior Tata Group board members to discuss the ongoing sale of their UK steelmaking assets.

Recruiter contacted government to find out how these new trade experts will be recruited, but was told no further details are being released at this time.

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