That’s the impression one gets talking to Ross Allen, the director of the British Department for International Trade in the United States. Allen visited the Ocean State this week to lay the groundwork for two trade missions, one in September when Rhode Island business owners will visit northern England and Scotland and one in October, when business owners from the region around the northern British city of Leeds will visit New England, especially Boston and Providence.

“You’ve got lots of advantages here,” Allen said during an interview at The Providence Journal offices. “You’ve got a very receptive, pro-business administration.”