West Midlands firms are among the worst offenders in a list identifying where businesses have the opportunity to export but fail to do so.

New research from Experian ranks seven towns and cities in the region in the top half of a list highlighting the number of firms with the right characteristics to export, yet are not doing so.

Out of a total list of 113 in the UK, Telford was 12th, Dudley 22nd and Wolverhampton 23rd in terms of unused export potential.

Experian analysed more than 40,000 UK companies currently exporting to profile their components and better understand what an exporting business looks like.

The key characteristics identified included having more than 20 employees, multiple locations and significant geographical coverage of the UK market and having a strong credit rating.

The research, which comes ahead of Export Week next week, shows firms need to be thinking more globally, according to Paul Noon, West Midlands director at UK Trade & Investment.

He said: “The good news is there is lots of opportunity and that is why I am positive that we can double exports in the West Midlands, because there are so many companies that could start to export.

“What it needs is a change of mindset, getting companies thinking more outwardly for the opportunities.

“We need to go from thinking about selling up and down the country to winning business in new markets overseas. There is lots of opportunity for companies to push on and start exporting.”

The Experian research, created by mapping a model across the entire UK business population, puts Walsall 28th in the list of towns and cities not living up to export potential. Birmingham is 30th, Coventry 34th and Worcester 56th.

All seven West Midlands towns and cities are said to have between 6.5 and 8.7 per cent of firms with capacity to export, but in fact between 1.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent are known to export.

One reason why the West Midlands ranks highly in the list is its manufacturing roots.

Firms in engineering and wholesaling were identified as sectors that currently export more than others. Despite this, Experian’s analysis identified many more businesses within these sectors that are not exporting but have significant potential to do so.

In particular, this includes firms that manufacture electrical equipment where almost half of the business population – 44.5 per cent – do not file any export activity yet have the components of a successful exporter.

Other industries include manufacturers of household and office equipment and food and textiles.

Max Firth, UK managing director for Experian’s Business Information Services division, said: “Trading internationally contributes significantly to business and economic growth for specific regions and industries across the UK. When you consider that of the known exporting population, the average amount of turnover attributed to exporting is approximately 50 per cent, the companies identified could potentially double their income capacity by exporting.

“As is the case in the UK, Experian can help business to judge whether a potential international client presents a high risk very easily by providing access to global business information. We can help to unlock enormous exporting opportunities by bringing a greater degree of certainty to business of every size that is contemplating doing business across borders.”

The analysis revealed that six of the top ten locations where the biggest percentage of businesses matching the model of an exporting company were based in Scotland.

Aberdeen has the highest proportion of businesses in the UK, at 26.7 per cent, that have a number of the characteristics associated with an exporting company yet don’t file exporting revenue.

Three of the top ten areas where businesses have a high potential to export are in London. East central, west central and west of the capital have a high level of companies that could export but don’t currently.