Last week I had the opportunity to be in the UK with HMA Robin Barnett. A busy visit and one which took me to London, then North through Shrewsbury to Liverpool. Whilst in London we had the opportunity to attend the Council of British Chambers of Commerce Annual Conference and Awards Gala which to celebrate its 40th anniversary year was being held at the Guildhall. What are the take home messages from this prestigious event?
Lords Heseltine and Green summed up the UK position well. The only way to get the UK economy growing is to focus ruthlessly on international business – doing business in Europe and broader international markets. What that means for us in Poland is to get more British countries treating our Great market more seriously.
As I toured the UK attending a Food and Drink event at the Heart of England Food Enterprise Centre and meeting a number of businesses in the North West I realised just what a massive challenge that task is. Three thoughts I would like to share with you from Liverpool airport, plane delayed overlooking the Mersey industrial hinterland which begs for change:
– For starters UK companies to need to know much more than they currently do about Poland and the broader Emerging Europe region – many are amazingly unaware of what this great region has to offer.
– Sales are flat at home so there is a little more appetite for export but looking in more depth at the UK economy these companies will soon become hungry if not ravenous for exports – the UK market is saturated to say the least
– You don’t need to set up in Poland to do business in Poland. In today’s digital world you need a partner, a website and someone who can get goods from A to B, sorry, from UK to Poland
On the last point I want to tell you about a brand new project we are launching to support UK companies do business with Poland. The grand title is ‘The BPCC UKTI Trade and Investment for Growth Programme’. In practice this is a great new launchpad service to help British companies do business in Poland. If you want help finding a distributor or agent; translating your website, finding a logistics partner or working out what sort of contract you need this project’s for you.
For more details on making the right steps to export to Europe’s leading growth market get in touch. It’s time for growth and a great time to be getting going in Poland.