LONDON (12 December, 2017) – Aon plc (NYSE: AON) confirms that Susan Ross, Account Director within its Credit International division in the UK, was named on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in July.  Susan will collect her MBE from a representative of Her Majesty the Queen at a ceremony today, in recognition of her tireless campaigning on behalf of the UK’s export economy.

Susan has been a trade credit broker with Aon since the mid-1980s and has been a passionate volunteer member of the British Exporters Association for more than a decade, including a three year period as Chairman from 2009-2012.

During this time Susan campaigned for the re-launch of the UK Export Finance (UKEF) Bond Support scheme to the benefit of the hundreds of companies who have since used the product to be able to bid for, and win, overseas business. Since its reintroduction in 2011, the UKEF Bond Support Scheme has been utilised by over 220 UK companies and supported almost £850m of UK exports.

Susan Ross commented: “I’m really proud of the work BExA has done and I am delighted to have been acknowledged for my part in its achievements. The UK was performing poorly against the rest of the world for the provision of export finance and I believed passionately that this would have to change if we were to give companies a chance at competing. Before the Bond Support Scheme, companies were turning away export business because of the cash flow challenges.”

In addition to government-backed schemes, Susan adds that trade credit is playing an increasingly important role for UK PLC. “Sometimes perfectly profitable businesses will struggle because of the working capital needed to fulfil contracts. Solutions that improve cash flow are a vital part of the financial toolkit and as we have seen, can be the difference between merely staying afloat, or winning new business to expand.”

Aon Credit provides credit and political risk insurance to UK, international and multinational manufacturers, trading companies and financial institutions. With teams in 57 countries, Aon Credit brings distinct expertise, analytics and creativity to identify and propose solutions to enable clients to trade safely and finance trade-related business competitively.

ENDS

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.

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Contact

Katherine Bell, FTI Consulting
katherine.bell@fticonsulting.com
+44 (0)20 3727 1314