Herring, hashtagging and Harry Potter

The following is a guest blog by Spencer Mahony, HM Consul & UKTI

Regional Director for the South East US, British Embassy Washington.

I love my job. One of the reasons I love promoting UK business is because of the variety of my work. Last week was a great example of the different ways in which UKTI helps support world class UK businesses.
 
On Sunday I met a UKTI / Welsh Assembly delegation of food and drinks companies which were in DC to attend the US Fancy Food Show, where some of the UK’s niche high end products were on display. Companies selling specialty products like cheddar cheeses, Orkney herring, Llanllyr Welsh water, Anglesey sea salt and Patchwork pâté were amongst a larger group of purveyors who hope to break onto the foodie scene here.
 
Building a product brand in the US is expensive but having a space at the UK or Welsh exhibition stands helps attract buyers and distributors. And US importers are keen to find more UK products which they believe can penetrate the sophisticated US food and drink market. UKTI can help line up distributors, help provide the platform for the marketing and raise interest in UK products.  While the companies were here, our team also took some of the delegates to the different retail options in DC to see how the US customer experience is different from back home in the UK.
 
Recent excitement in the US about the UK from both the Royal Wedding and the recent visit from the Royal Couple (who attended an event in support of UKTI organized by my colleagues on the West Coast) has translated into increased interest in UK products and there is an excellent opportunity to build on this leading up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Going forward, we’ll be working on opportunities for UK brands to take part in more UKTI and consulate functions in the US.
 
The next day, I traded in my apron (figuratively speaking) for my gadgets when we welcomed the Chinwag digital mission’s arrival into DC. This group of 11 digitally enabled companies met an excellent range of DC movers and shakers, including the White House IT team, Google and the Maryland Government’s Innovation office. Companies like Huddle already do business in the US but others were keen to learn about doing business and finding partnership opportunities here. There was great feedback received on The DC Tech Meetup they attended, which is one of the popular regular technology events here.
 
Also in the group was Dominic Llewellyn from the Big Society Network, who was looking at how successful UK social enterprises can collaborate with US colleagues. It was great to see such innovative UK businesses here “hash tagging” news and views as they met DC contacts, and the UKTI team here is excited about how we can help them develop their businesses going forward.
 
Wednesday represented the culmination of weeks of organisation coming together for the final Harry Potter film’s DC premier at our Ambassador’s Residence. Our Embassy team, led by UKTI’s Melinda Goforth, worked with Time Warner Inc. and Warner Bros. to host a magical evening to celebrate the DC premiere for the  final instalment of the beloved film series.
 
In addition to the spell-binding enjoyment of the film, it’s important to note that Time Warner Inc., recently acquired Leavesden Studios in London, where all eight Harry Potter movies were made. Their investment in Leavesden, which will include a walking tour of the Harry Potter studios, is projected to support thousands of jobs. Leavesden is just one part of the incredibly active UK film sector, which attracts billions in film production budgets to the 100-plus studios around the country. The industry contributes roughly £4.3bn per year to the UK economy, accounting for 7% of the global box office.
 
As if that weren’t enough, my week also included discussions on UK expertise to help develop the US off-shore wind sector, and exciting ideas to help UK firms take advantage of London 2012 (a topic for another blog). All in all an exciting week for UK businesses with US links that the UKTI team were delighted to help support.