To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings his Department have had with Global Services and JMT Charlesworth Ltd.; what were the terms of the grants made to these companies over the past two years; and if he will make a statement. [71805]

[holding answer 16 February 1999]: JMT Charlesworth applied in 1997 to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) for a DTI funded Export Marketing Research Scheme grant. The grants are open to British companies with fewer than 500 employees wishing to research specific overseas markets and are payable after the work has been successfully completed. The company received a grant of just over £1,000 from BCC following their study of the market for used, refurbished trucks for sale to Eritrea and Ethiopia.