SMALL and medium-sized companies in Bury are to get the chance to explore export markets in Europe and Scandinavia.

It's all part of a Trade Partners UK initiative which has the potential to capture markets worth more than £90 billion to the UK.

Opportunities for the region's businesses to visit Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Dusseldorf and Madrid have been announced by the Foreign Office as part of a new raft of 77 Export Explorer missions designed to help companies new to exporting.

A total of 51 visits will be made to the "starter markets" of Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland.

Another 26 will be directed at firms with limited export experience not yet trading with the lucrative markets of Spain, France and Germany.

In the two and a half years since the Exporter Explorer programme was launched, more than 1,000 companies have found new markets.

Almost 90 per cent of companies taking part would recommend the scheme to other businesses.

The visits will establish inside contacts for British firms seeking to develop their export capacity and link companies with potential customers in markets worth more than £90 billion to the UK.