29 May 2012
Rolls-Royce Learning & Career Development Centre, Derby, DE24 9BD
9:00 am - 1:15 pm

World Class Companies Need World Class Employees.
Businesses across the country are increasingly realising the enormous benefits that apprentices bring
and the importance of exporting to ensure their future sustainability.
Rolls-Royce and the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) are working together to create excellent
opportunities for the British engineers of the future.
UKTI are working hard to ensure that our excellent engineering companies are fully supported to win
business overseas.

You are invited to join all 3 organisations at a half day event to find out how to grow your
engineering business:

Discover how the Rolls-Royce based, NAS supported Apprenticeship Academy
can supply you with the apprentices you need to support the future of your
company;

Find out what help is available from UK Trade & Investment to realise your
export potential;
Listen to a case study from a local company who has benefited from working
with all 3 organisations and achieved great success both domestically and
overseas;
Be the first to tour the newly completed apprentice training facility at the
Rolls-Royce site.

Interested?
To guarantee your place at this free event please visit the UKTI website and register today.
UK Trade & Investment East Midlands  General Enquiries: 0845 052 4001

Click below for full details

ukti-engineering-your-future-success-may2012.pdf (195.98 kb)

10th May 2012, Nottingham 12.30pm-5pm

East Midlands Strategic Migration Partnership is hosting a half day event focusing on the employers of foreign nationals

Speakers from the UK Border Agency, EURES, ACAS, Equality and Human Rights Commission and HM Revenue and Customs will cover:

• Understanding your liabilities under immigration law
• Points Based System
• Forthcoming changes to the Points Based System for existing Sponsors
• How to collect and retain the correct documentation
• Discrimination
• EURES
• Jobcentre Plus – Employer Offer
• HMRC real time information system

This event will allow you to assess your immigration, recruitment and vetting procedures and get to grips with changes by discussing any problems or queries with our recruitment and immigration professionals from ACAS, EURES and the UK Border Agency.

In addition there will be an opportunity to learn about the new HMRC real time information system

Lunch will be provided.

The event is free but places are limited.

Employers of Foreign Nationals Flyer April 2012.doc (239.50 kb)

Employers of Foreign Nationals Booking Form April 2012.doc (81.50 kb)

Taking place at the very heart of our county, the 2 day long Lincolnshire Show has a well-earned reputation for showcasing all that is great about Lincolnshire – and the 2012 show will be no different. We will be celebrating the inventiveness, initiative and hard work of companies based within the county that are already trading successfully both domestically and internationally. Alongside this we will be celebrating those local firms that process raw materials from overseas.

The ‘Trading in New Markets’ marquee is an innovative joint initiative from the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, UK Trade & Investment, Lincolnshire County Council and the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce. This area will provide the ideal location at the show to demonstrate Lincolnshire’s engineering and production excellence and find out more about international trade. We invite you to visit the marquee or take up the excellent exhibition opportunities that it offers to all those involved in overseas trade, whether starting out or looking to expand on existing export business.

If you would like to find out how to get involved and exhibit in the ‘Trading in New Markets’ marquee, please contact Jayne Southall on 01522 585507 or email jsouthall@lincs-events.co.uk

The world wide web means that everyone with a website has the capability to export. By typing a couple of keywords into our browser we can find ourselves communicating with companies from Australia to Antigua, and everywhere in between. The world wide web means that, to coin a phrase, ‘the world is our oyster’ or ‘le monde est à toi’ as the French would have it.

And herein lies the problem: although on paper the internet makes trading overseas simple, having an English only website means that potential customers overseas who speak a different language are less likely to find you. And, if they do happen to stumble across you, they are unlikely to work their way through a website full of words they don’t understand.

Consider these surprising statistics:
• only 6% of the world’s population speak English as their mother tongue;
• latest estimates suggest that around 27% of the world’s population speak English in some form

So, according to my rudimentary maths, 73% of the world’s population can’t understand your website and therefore, to put it crudely, can’t/won’t buy what you have to offer.

Companies are put off ‘internationalising’ their websites for several reasons. Here are some of them:

• they don’t know where to start;
• they think it will be expensive;
• they are lacking good advice.

The solution is to undertake an Export Communications Review (ECR). Offered by UK Trade & Investment, the government department tasked with helping companies to export successfully. The ECR is delivered on-site by impartial consultants all of whom have experience in exporting and international marketing, are linguists and have lived and worked abroad. It will provide any company in any sector with a practical international communication plan. For an SME the review costs just £250 or is free to those companies who are working with UKTI on our Passport to Export programme.

Here’s what one company said recently about their ECR:

‘Four years ago this was a business operating out of a garden shed. Now we are an international company. The support we have had from many sources and specifically the (Export Communications) Review, were critical in making that happen.’

So what are you waiting for? ‘Dépêchez-vous!’ Enquire about an ECR today: 07825 344473

The Chinese New Year starts on 23 January and heralds the Year of the Dragon. Mighty China continues to dominate the world economy at a time when fortress Europe looks distinctly vulnerable. Press commentators however observe that the BRIC countries are running into the sand with escalating employee expectations and costs to match, concerns around corruption, strengthening domestic supply and higher energy costs. Each of the BRICS represents a significant challenge for British Exporters in any event, each being large, remote and culturally very different. The new BRICS including Vietnam and Qatar amongst others, might be attractive to British Exporters as they are more of a bite sized chunk.

Despite these shifts in global market opportunities UK Exports are running at records levels – especially Goods exports which we capture through the Export documentation statistics – up 8% in 2011 to their highest level ever, in sheer shipment numbers. The Lincolnshire Chamber processed a record level of documents in the Q3- So UK plc exports are doing very well and look set to continue this trend into 2012. As we strive to get a better balance in our economy it is certainly true that BUSINESS is GOOD for BRITAIN – can we become the Dragon Exporter?

New International Trade Training Courses for 2012

Introduction to exporting provides a perfect introduction for new staff. It also is ideal as a revision exercise for staff who may need their knowledge to remain current, and as an overview for supervisors and management who need to understand what their staff are doing. 

To book your place, either add this to your basket, telephone Helen Tomkinson on 01522 523333 or email helen.tomkinson@lincs-chamber.co.uk.

1st March 2012
2012, 9.00am - 4.30pm
Commerce House, Lincoln
£200.00 +VAT (Members) £270.00 +VAT (Non-Members)

Yorkshire Bank are delighted to invite you to a teleconference seminar in conjunction with UK Trade and Investment on Thursday 1st March 2012.  

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the Government Department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy.  They also help overseas companies bring their high-quality investment to the UK’s dynamic economy acknowledged as Europe’s best place from which to succeed in global business.

UKTI offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and in British Embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world.  UKTI provide companies with the tools they require to be competitive on the world stage.  

A key element of UKTI’s strategy is an increased focus on helping British companies access more opportunities that exist in key emerging markets.  

One such opportunity is linked to Smart Cities of the future emerging in exciting new markets globally.  Asia is particularly attractive for UK businesses providing smart solutions.

Smart Cities of the future in 10 markets across Asia

UKTI will shortly publish new research that will benchmark the most dynamic cities across Asia in terms of their levels of smart development, and present the opportunities for UK business.  

The research focuses on developments in Built Environment (Construction); Education; Energy & Environment (road, rail, power grid); Health; Digital Environment (ICT, Creative) and Transportation in cities across the following markets: Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam.

A copy of interim findings from this research can be found at: http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/item/218400.html

The event will be hosted by Brian Colquhoun, Regional Director for Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank.  Our guest speakers are Colin Russell and Simon Bedford, both advisors to the UKTI who discuss the opportunities for UK Businesses.

The event will be held at Leeds Financial Solutions Centre and networked live via teleconference across the UK to our Financial Solutions Centres.  After the presentation, the panel will participate in an interactive Q&A session.

Date and Venue

Date: Thursday 1st March 2012

Start Time:  10.30 for 11am start

Venue: Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank, the Regatta building, Henley way, Doddington Road, Lincoln LN6 3QR

Please note tea and coffee will be available at the end of the event giving you the opportunity to network with other members.

To book your places please contact: David Burgess, Partner Business Banking, 01522 348900, david.burgess@eu.nabgroup.com

25th November 2011, 11.00am - 1.00pm
Commerce House, Lincoln (LN2 4HY)
£50.00 +VAT (International Trade Chamber Members Only)
Non-Members Please Telephone 01522 846929 for Information

The British Chambers of Commerce in conjunction with HM Revenue & Customs and i2i have developed a fast,
simple and cost saving system to enable exporting companies to apply and receive stamped European or Arab
Certificates of Origin, SITPRO invoices, EUR1 and A.TR forms from the Chamber of Commerce.
The session is an International Trade Chamber member benefit whether you are a new member wishing to find out
how you can save time and money, an existing member requiring additional staff to be trained or just requiring a
refresher.

Our highly qualified and experienced International Trade Team will be explaining the benefits included below and
more:

Speed – forward documents to the Chamber electronically, saving time and money
Service – by obtaining a faster service from the Chamber, allowing you to offer a better service for your
customers
Simplicity – future documentation will be correct as templates are formed
Registration – completed at the time, allowing for instant use of system once you leave the workshop
Have any questions answered by the International Trade Team

To book your place please contact Helen or Rachel 01522 846929 or click here

Trading with India
Sponsored by Neill and Brown
27th September 2011, 12.00pm - 2.00pm, Commerce House, Lincoln
Free (Members) £10.50 +VAT (Non-Members)
Guest Speakers: Christine Donaldson-Badger (Goldmere)
Uday K Dholakia (Indo-British Trade Council)

You are invited to attend Trading with India on the 27th of September 2011, sponsored by Neill and Brown. We are fortunate enough to have two guest speakers who you are encouraged to ask questions to, in order for you to overcome any barriers you may have to trading with India.

Christine Donaldson-Badger

Mrs Donaldson-Badger is the joint owner of Goldmere, which began as a ladies fashion niche retail business in 1993 supplying and servicing retirement establishments throughout England. Goldmere was the first at home fashion service in the UK and today continues to operate in this specialised field and is the most established in the country.

Manufacture of said ladies’ fashion was then undertaken by Goldmere, initially in Morrocco, followed by the entry into the Indian textile/manufacturing field around 1999. Garments designed and manufactured for their own retail use and also to the wholesale market in the UK continued.

From around the year 2006, Goldmere sold off serviced areas throughout regions of England setting up individual businesses for private clients based on the very successful businesss blueprint developed by its owners. Around this time, joint owner Mrs Christine Donaldson-Badger was approached by Sir Richard Greens, Executive Director of BHS at their London HQ, with the view to purchase the niche fashion business for the BHS group. Talks were ongoing for a number of weeks but a joint common agreement could not be reached and the sale passed by.

India became the home of Goldmere where the design and manufacture of a new label ‘Kolkata Collection’ for the larger lady was launched, along with manufacture and retail of children’s clothing for the UK.

Goldmere diversified through its many associations with prominent Indian Corporates, businesses and sporting clubs. The core business of Goldmere is now identifying, negotiating, promoting and overseeing Anglo/Indian business links and relationships. Their connections with commercial and sporting interests in Nigeria are developing and the incredible opportunities which exist will be identified promoting UK/Nigerian commercial synergies.

Future aims are to further develop their corporate relationships within India and Nigeria. As per their governmental missions to these countries recently, and the collaboration between their trade departments, they are positioned with full backing from government to seek commercial partners for the benefit of their UK business sectors. The prospects for trade with India and Nigeria in the future are very promising and they intend to have a firm presence for the benefit of commercial activity in the UK.

Uday K Dholakia

Uday is a Senior Partner at a Midlands based consultancy with extensive international trade experience especially with India, the Middle East, Africa, Portugal and Bulgaria. He is Vice Chairman of Leicestershire Asian Business Association and Chairman of its Indo-British Trade Council. He is also a Brand Ambassador for Asian Markets for Birmingham Airport.

Uday has led a number of business missions to India over the last twenty five years and remains an ardent supporter of enhancing bilateral trade amongst manufacturing SME’s in India and the UK. Under the UK government’s localism agenda and further enhancing close links with India, Uday is currently working with a number of agencies, local authorities and banks to establish an international trade centre that will provide dedicated support to further enhance bilateral trade between SME’s, especially manufacturing enterprises in the UK and India.

Uday has a demonstrable track record of championing SME interests both in his business and personal life. He has an exceptional grasp of the current debate on reducing administrative burdens and its impact on the competitiveness of UK plc., in particular manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises. Added to this Uday has an innate interest in business development, competitiveness, international trade and economic growth.

Uday passionately believes that the UK is one of the best places in the world to do business, and sees this as being a unique selling proposition for UK Plc., especially amongst the manufacturing small and medium size businesses.

In a globally competitive environment, USP’s of many manufacturing SME’s are often stifled by over regulation, historic laws and delay in deploying cutting edge technologies and innovation. It is Uday’s personal goal to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of the global competitive environment, and that manufacturing SME’s and Universities with their spin-offs’ potential for innovation and research take a leading role in international trade and investment.

To book your place, please add this to your basket, email Rachel.Mooney@lincs-chamber.co.uk or telephone 01522 523333.

China Crisis? / Don't be a bull in a China shop?

As part of UK Trade & Investment's ongoing commitment to excellent international communication, we would like to invite you to a day long Business Mandarin for Beginners workshop.

With fascinating insights into the business culture of China and basic language tuition this is a really important session for all those companies who have ambitions in China. For further information, and information on how to book, click on the following  link