28th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I attended earlier this month in Bucharest a conference entitled “TTIP: Romania’s Voice”. It was organised by a Romanian member of the European Parliament named Sorin Moisa, and incorporated the outcome of an interesting national consultation exercise sounding out the views of Romanian businesses towards TTIP. It also provided the opportunity to listen to an […]
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3rd March 2014
Warsaw, Poland
Poland – A GREAT Business Opportunity – the Minister came to see for himself….and he brought 70 companies with him… And more to the point he met 200 more while he was here. I’ve been living and working in Central Europe for 20 years this year and this is the biggest ever show of British […]
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10th January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Who is referring to Turkey as one of “The next economic giants”? The answer is Jim O’Neill, the British economist famous for inventing the term “BRIC” – for Brazil, Russia, India and China – in 2001 as the next big thing in the world economy. Since then, these economies have grown strongly. Now […]
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7th November 2013
Washington DC, USA
Last month, Ambassador and Lady Westmacott hosted a reception to celebrate the Bloomingdales GREAT British Invasion Campaign. The Campaign is a line of menswear designed to honour the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, as well as a ‘Best of Britain’ menswear line featuring 40 high-end and traditional British designers […]
Read more on Following Suit: TTIP and the Fashion Industry | Reply
1st July 2013
London, UK
Ten years ago, the world was a very different place. No one had heard of Twitter and there was no Facebook. Ten years before that, we didn’t even have the World Wide Web. Given the pace of change, what will the world look like in ten years’ time, and what does this mean for Europe?
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10th June 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Last week I wrote about plans for sustaining global momentum on development and against poverty after 2015. 2015 feels a long way away. And yet in the last few days we have seen, very practically, how government, civil society and faith can come together to make a difference now. Speaking on 5 June, Pope Francis […]
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14th May 2013
London, UK
A startling statistic – over half the businesses that get help from UK Trade & Investment go on to win additional sales of over £600,000 within two years. The UK’s trade performance is often discussed in the abstract, or at the macroeconomic level. People look at the effect on UK GDP or the balance of […]
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16th April 2013
Warsaw, Poland
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 […]
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2nd April 2013
Washington DC, USA
I don’t give as much money to good causes as I should. For someone who works in international development and who feels strongly that we need a joint, all-out effort to end poverty, that’s a pretty stark admission. Given my own failings, I can only say hats off to the UK Government for maintaining its […]
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22nd March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
20 March, as well as being the Spring Equinox, was budget day in the UK. As in other European countries, the UK economy has been affected by the chill of the eurozone’s problem and the long winter of the international financial crisis. Against this backdrop, our government has announced several new measures to stimulate recovery. […]
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