Speaking at Stationers’ Hall in London, Cobbold, who will join media and events group UBM next month, said that if firms did their homework there were plenty of export opportunities.
He also said that, despite technological and cashless systems advances, he considered printed banknotes to have a long future ahead of them.
“If you jump forward 100 years maybe things will be different. But that’s not the sort of timescale most people in this room are interested in.”
He said lesson number one when exporting was “making sure you have something other countries want to buy” and cited the example of Chinese business leaders puzzled by firms attempting to sell them goods they had no interest in or need for.
“Technology and innovation matter – they provide the differential. We have learned that we can only maintain that through sustained investment.”
The world is changing very fast, and so are markets” he added. “And nowhere more than the fast-growing economies that used to be called emerging.
"Exporting for Britain is quite simply a requirement for the Britain of the future."
He praised the support on offer from UKTI and from ambassadors and embassy staff around the world, but also sounded a cautious note: “If you want to export into new markets, no-one is going to give you a free ride. The list of challenges – such as languages and legal systems – is endless.
“Any business planning to export must develop realistic impression of the risk versus rewards, and that could involve the personal security of staff.
Cobbold said that in the past three months alone De La Rue employees had been to a raft of countries including the Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
“If you are prepared to manage the risks, the De La Rue experience is the rewards are there.”
He also talked about the challenges surrounding the strictures of the Bribery Act.
“De La Rue has had a difficult past in this area and the challenges are very real. We hit all the potential corruption red flags, so we always have to go that extra mile in due diligence.”
He said the UK’s stance was actually affecting the behaviour of its overseas competitors in a positive way. “By and large they are responding, albeit in varying degrees, to the Bribery Act. I believe it reinforces the sense of fair play that many around the world associate with the UK.”
He said that De La Rue’s long heritage and ‘Britishness’ was a plus, because of the values attached to it. “Does being British help? Probably yes, because it defines certain characteristics that are valued worldwide.”
But international competition remained stiff: “We shouldn’t sit around thinking the Germans are wishing they were more British.”
