The 2007 festival, which took place from November 7 to 11, saw a record number of delegates from across the globe arrive in the city – a feat which organisers attribute to the SYITC. Delegates representing organisations including Sky, Al Jazeera, Sundance Documentary Fund and the National Film Board of Canada made the trip to Sheffield.

SIDF industry and marketplace director Fleur Knopperts said: “The festival has continued to thrive and this year’s has been the biggest and best ever.

“This year we had double the amount of delegates that we did two years ago which is an amazing achievement. We were expecting growth but this exceeded our expectations and was made possible by the visits we made with funding acquired through the SYITC.”

SIDF initially accessed the Targeted Export Support Scheme (TESS) through the SYITC and undertook promotional tours to Canada, France and Denmark. A second phase has now been secured to enable the organisation to plan further visits to the USA and Germany.

Said Fleur: “A lot of our work involves establishing relationships and this can only be achieved over a period of time. The funding enabled us to visit a number of countries to extend the relationships we had already begun to form and form new ones.

“We can’t approach the entire world in one go and the SYITC has helped us to secure further funding to go back and visit more countries to further expand the festival.

“Working with the SYITC has been an entirely positive experience and has enabled to achieve things that we otherwise would not have been able to on such a short timescale.

“The feedback we’ve had from delegates that attended this year’s festival has been very positive. A lot of contacts have been made and business deals completed over the course of the festival.”

SIDF has also participated in the UK Trade and Investment Passport to Export programme through the SYITC and received help with their strategic export development.

Senior international trade advisor Jo Kelly said: “Doc Fest is a long running programme that is cultivating a very high profile and strong reputation.

“We’re thrilled that being part of the TESS programme has enabled them to build on their successes and reach record levels more quickly than would otherwise have been possible.”

The South Yorkshire International Trade Centre (SYITC) is supported by a three year £7.41million funding package issued jointly by Yorkshire Forward, the European Regional Development Fund and UK Trade and Investment under contract with Business Link South Yorkshire. The centre provides essential international trade related services including expert advice, market information, research and grant support.