1st July 2015, London – Transparency International UK welcomes the publication of a report by the UK Government, confirming that the UK Bribery Act (2010) is not negatively impacting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). According to the report 89% of SMEs believe that the UK Bribery Act has had no effect at all on their company’s ability or plans to export.

Peter Van Veen, TI-UK Director Business Integrity Programme, said:

“Clearly more needs to be done to raise awareness of the act, as underlined by the statistic that a third of SMEs aren’t aware of it.

“Better awareness and education of good practice will help SMEs understand that doing business without resorting to bribery is straightforward and the only way to generate sustainably profitable business.”

“We take confidence that the law has not inhibited businesses and hope that the UK Government will step up efforts on awareness and education.”

***ENDS***