THE chief executive of Cobalt Lights Systems, Paul Loeffen, does not distinguish between domestic and export sales, which helped make the Milton Park-based company one of the most successful exporters among Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.

“We’re not afraid of exports,” he said. “We go after opportunities wherever they are.”

Cobalt Light Systems, which designs and makes machines that scan fluids in bottles to check for explosives at airports, was ranked number one in the inaugural Sunday Times BT Business SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) Export Track 100 last week.

Cobalt is indicative of a wider trend among SMEs in and around Oxford that are predominantly exporters.

A survey conducted by FedEx Express found 78 per cent of SMEs in Oxford are exporters, making the city the fourth highest in the UK for exporting SMEs.

The survey, which questioned 36 firms in Oxford, found that among Oxford SMEs an average of 39 per cent of sales are generated by exports, one of the highest proportions in the UK.

Cobalt recorded £8.1m in exports in 2014, which accounted for three-quarters of total sales.

The company sells most of its airport security machines to Europe and Australia, although it is tapping new markets in North and South America, China, Japan and South Korea.

Cobalt, which started in 2008, sells machines to the pharmaceutical industry that ensure tablets and capsules have the correct levels of drugs.

Mr Loeffen said: “We really don’t make a big distinction between domestic and export sales.”

Figures from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills show that, of the £40bn in total business exports generated in South East England in 2014, half went to the European Community (EC).

Dr Christopher Winchester, managing director of Tubney-based Oxford PharmaGenesis, which writes and edits medical information, said his firm generates 90 per cent of its £10m in annual turnover through exports.

He said its clients, which are mostly pharmaceutical companies, “like the fact they get Oxford English and they get clever people”.

Giles English, co-founder of Henley-based Bremont Watches, said the company’s brand attributes of “Britishness, engineering precision and aviation adventure” helped make exports 45 per cent of its annual turnover of £18m.

Economist Anthony Light, director of city services for Oxford Economics, said he expected an “improving export outlook [in the UK] as both the US and Eurozone economies are forecast to strengthen over the coming two years”.