Photo: DIT
A £100,000 Department for International Trade podcast intended to showcase the business benefits of outsourcing was heard by only 8,400 people, according to parliamentary figures.
The show, hosted by Apprentice and Countdown star Nick Hewer, featured a series of interviews with UK exporters to discuss their “personal stories and memorable moments”.
According to the Mirror, the six episodes cost a total of £107,000 to produce, but were only downloaded a total of 8,398 times across the 6 episodes of the podcast, plus a 1 minute preview episode. It cost £25,000 to produce the podcast, and a further £82,000 on promotion, meaning it cost around £12.70 for each listener.
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The project, produced under the DIT's 'Exporting is GREAT' campaign, is an attempt by the government to boost exporting figures ahead of Brexit.
Guests on the podcast included representatives from a sunglasses producer, a clean tech company and a firm which invented a cooling system for safely exporting vaccines.
A department spokesman said: “The Exporting is GREAT campaign aims to inspire UK companies to start exporting or to grow their exports. DIT estimates that 400,000 businesses believe they could export, but don’t, while demand for British expertise and goods is only growing.
“Podcasts are an excellent way to engage with current and potential exporters by telling the stories of those who have experience to share. The podcast reached 6th in the UK iTunes business charts, demonstrating real interest amongst business audiences.
“In 2017, more than 100,000 businesses took steps towards exporting as a result of the campaign, part of the government’s commitment to promote a culture of exporting – a key pillar of the export strategy which aims to rise exports as a proportion of gross domestic product from 30% to 35%.”