CUMBRIAN companies are being urged to compete on the global stage to help grow their businesses and boost the region’s economy.

The rallying call came from UK Trade and Investment’s international trade director Clive Drinkwater on his latest visit to the county.

He wants firms hoping to achieve their overseas ambitions to make use of the help available from the government-backed UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

During a whistlestop tour, Mr Drinkwater met Elizabeth Smith, proprietor of Lizzie’s Homemade in Penrith to discover how UKTI’s Passport to Export programme and overseas market visit support helped her to achieve her first overseas orders in Canada and to hear about her ambitions.

And Kendal-based mobile phone entertainment business K2 Media also received UKTI support when it was looking to expand Down Under.