FindExporters

This information was sourced from "FindExporters" by AI.GOV.UK, https://ai.gov.uk/knowledge-hub/tools/findexporters/?directTo=library. Licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0.

The challenge

DBT staff needed to manually sift through millions of UK companies to identify export potential and make subjective decisions about which companies to engage first. This created inefficiencies in resource allocation and made it difficult to target export support services effectively.

The solution

FindExporters uses a LightGBM Classification Model to predict the probability that a company will export within the next 6 months. The system processes data from Companies House, DBT internal databases, and HMRC export records to generate export propensity scores on a 0-1 scale. Companies are categorised into five risk levels from "Very High" to "Very Low" export potential, enabling DBT staff to make data-driven decisions about which organisations to engage first and allocate resources more effectively.

The results

FindExporters is currently operational, processing millions of UK companies daily with an average of 0.143 daily users among DBT staff. The system has replaced manual, subjective company identification with data-driven probability scoring, enabling targeted allocation of export support resources to high-potential companies. The tool provides systematic coverage of all UK companies and supports informed decision-making about business engagement.