UKEF’s Reid talks ‘times like these’
UKEF’s Chief Executive, Tim Reid, sat down with TXF in his offices in Horse Guards Road to discuss origination strategies for UK exporters, practical partnerships, defence, transformation, energy, and Africa amid the ‘neorealism’ of global geopolitics. He also gives a taster of his appearance at TXF Global in Prague in June.
Tasty highlights Tim Reid's interview:
A strong first quarter kicks off the year. A near-£750 million financing for Nigerian Ports Steel (a Lagos port refurbishment with British Steel as a major supply line) and a £67 million UK-content ticket for Indonesian navy submarines. SME support is also running ahead of plan.
Middle East limits unchanged, appetite intact [04:00–04:24] UKEF has not pared back country limits across the Gulf. "We're very much open for business," Reid highlights. Country heads on the ground and Department for Business and Trade colleagues are reading the situation first-hand. There’s a pull for UK expertise from diversifying Gulf economies.
"Neo-realism" demands collaboration and UKEF is demanding it. Bilateral finance alone rarely gets big deals done. The Feng Miao offshore wind transaction in Taiwan [07:34–08:28] – UKEF £168 million alongside five other ECAs and multiple commercial banks – is the template. Co-financing is structured around the supply chain, not the flag.
Origination is now core, not optional – country managers in embassies, export finance managers across the UK, and the head office client coverage team are being deployed to proactively match UK capability to overseas demand. The agency is still the support of last resort when needed, but the centre of gravity is shifting.
Defence is firmly in the frame [08:29–10:30] – A Turkey Typhoon deal is the transaction, alongside a new MoU with Türk Eximbank signed at SAHA26 in Istanbul, and a new partnership with Finance Forces channelling UKEF products to veteran-run businesses.
MDB collaboration – known territory, but not done often enough. Reid says working alongside MDBs, peer ECAs, commercial banks and insurers delivers materially better outcomes in the countries that need them most.
Africa and the Caribbean on track – the five-year sustainable infrastructure target for low- and middle-income countries is on plan. The Nigerian ports deal is co-arranged with KUKE of Poland, reflecting the underlying supply chain. A Caribbean Trade & Investment Forum appearance also flagged a building pipeline of critical infrastructure work.
Net zero hasn't been quietly dropped – UKEF currently chairs the Net Zero Export Credit Agencies Alliance, whose principals met in early May. Sustainability sits inside the growth and resilience narrative, not separate from it.
Untied – or, in Reid's preferred phrasing, "less tied" lending [15:30–17:06] – ECAs are moving beyond the traditional buyer credit, and UKEF must continue developing its own answer. The industrial strategy commitment to review the mandate is now live with more to say "over coming months."
Risk appetite: Lean in, don't flinch [17:07–18:13] – UKEF carries a £60 billion portfolio. "We shouldn't be frightened of risk. We need to learn how to take it. We know how to take it."
A patient, healthy pipeline – UKEF’s pipeline is geographically and sectorally spread, but continues to be slow by nature. Reid notes one transaction that’s been in dialogue since 2021. Slowly, but surely.
Catch Tim Reid in person at TXF Global 2026 in Prague
Tim Reid will be joining us at TXF Global 2026 in Prague (9–11 June) — bringing a "good size delegation" and the prospect of "dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of meetings" with ECAs, banks and exporters from across the world. He'll be expanding on much of the ground covered above: how UKEF and its peers can — alone or collaboratively — deliver the outcomes the export economy needs in a more complex world.
There's still time to register. Prague is shaping up to be exactly the conversation Reid describes — the ECAs, the banks, the exporters, all in one room.
👉 Secure your place at TXF Global 2026
