BETRO
SIR,—As first—and last—Director-General of British Export Trade Research Organisation, I was, it need hardly be said, most interested in the reference to that ill-starred organisation in the opening Spectator article, 'Employers' Liability' (September 16). You will, I hope, permit a reflection or two.
The words 'Courageously—and as it turned out foolishly—' were used in connection with the decision (which was largely mine abetted, it is true, by the Federation of British Indus- tries) to see if we could stand on our own feet. I wonder if we were really so foolish: from what I see of the latest (and mounting) un- balance of trade problem that is upon this country, British industry seems little wiser about the need to go in for systematic fact- finding (thus meeting consumer needs) before plunging into overseas trade than it was when we shut our doors over three years ago. A continued Government grant would have only, I suspect, aggravated the suspicion in which BETRO was held by those same industrialists who, as you so rightly say, should be now wanting our services—a suspicion that we were
'just another Government show' which, in fact, we weren't.
I write none of this with bitterness. BETRO was before its time in the sense that most evangelists are before theirs. We were preach- ing a doctrine (and such an obvious and simple one really) that will only come to be accepted when the economic pressures are such that 'export or die' will be more than a slogan. In the meantime those all too few exporters who go in for a properly planned programme of overseas market research—which only differs in method from its equivalent in the domestic market, the objectives are identical—are reap- ing the benefit.
A last word. I am chairman of a voluntary organisation called BETRO (1952) Ltd., which was set up to administer the residual funds after the original organisation closed. We are doing—I think I can claim without presump- tion—good if unspectacular work. We have sponsored a book, Profitable Export Market- ing, by Martin Madden, MP, which was pub- lished in the spring and is selling quite well : we have given £500 for an overseas travelling bursary to the winner of an essay competition, and are running this scheme in conjunction with the Royal Society of Arts. We speak at conferences or write articles whenever the opportunity to press for a proper consideration of the value, indeed the urgent necessity, for overseas market research arises.
But I realise, as I read over this letter before sending it to you, how strange not to say pathetic it is that these tiny little efforts are all we have to offer. As your leader says about the original, functioning BETRO, 'Now, when it is again needed, employers find that it is not there to help them.' Where shall we go from here—Your faithfully,
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