As noted in last month’s feature, harder economic times have seen a renewed focus from the main players in the markets for credit reference and credit insurance such as Dun & Bradstreet and Experian. But before the private market developed a range of insurance products catering for UK manufacturers and investors trading overseas, many companies relied on the cover offered by the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), set up by the government shortly after World War One in a bid to revive British trade and exports.