Businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire can bolster the economy – and their own bottom line – by increasing overseas trade, a major summit has heard.
Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce held its second International Trade Summit at the Holiday Inn, Walsgrave, to discuss the barriers and the benefits to doing business abroad.
The event heard from a range of expert speakers who described everything from the current global economic outlook through to the day-to-day support that firms can tap into.
Corin Crane, chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, hosted the summit, which was sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group, Independent Freight Solutions and RationalFX.
Corin said: “It’s clear that there are many businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire that are doing business overseas, whether that’s importing or exporting, and that is a big driver of economic growth.
“We have a great brand in this region and a unique economy that includes everything from tourism to advanced manufacturing. What we do is truly world class across many sectors.
“It is important that we come together in this way to have these discussions because we need to get more businesses trading globally. Domestic economic growth is going to remain quite sluggish so if we can find new markets for our products and services, that is going to help businesses to grow and be more resilient in the coming years.
“It might require the upskilling of some staff or investment in e-commerce but it’s important for businesses to know that the support is out there and encourage them to get in touch with the Chamber to help point them in the right direction.”
The summit kicked off with a keynote speech from Rhys Herbert, Senior Economist at Lloyds Banking Group, who ran through the domestic and global economic picture before Professor Paul Noon OBE, of Coventry University, described how the university has ‘gone global’.
Ian Harrison, Head of Export and Development at the Department for Business & Trade, explained how the support available followed by David Hooper, of Independent Freight Solutions and Chamber international trade adviser, who ran through some of the practicalities of global trade.
Will Bain, of the British Chambers of Commerce, told the audience of nearly 100 businesses that being part of the Chamber meant access to international markets via its global network before a panel of David Weatherhead (Lloyds Banking Group), Karen Shuter (Exact Logistics), Ian Harrison, Will Bain and Barak Chowdhury (RationalFX) discussed a range of issues and took questions from the floor.
Corin added: “We want to grow this summit year on year because it is so important to get businesses in our area to expand their horizons and benefit from training internationally.
“Being part of the Chamber is the perfect starting point because we have all of the right connections here in the UK to help support you on the road to international trade but also a an overseas network that can get you to market much quicker than if you were acting alone.”
The Chamber’s Annual Business & Economic Conference takes place at the Coventry Building Society Arena this Friday (November 10).
For more information or to book a place go to https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/events/annual-business-economic-conference-2023/
Pictured (left to right): Back – David Weatherhead (Lloyds Banking Group), Corin Crane (Chamber), Adele Dodds (Chamber), Tom Mongan (Chamber), Professor Paul Noon CBE (Coventry University), Ian Harrison (Department for Business & Trade), David Hooper (Independent Freight Solutions). Front – Barak Chowdhury (RationalFX), Hazel Pilling (Chamber), Karen Shuter (Exact Logistics), Will Bain (British Chambers of Commerce).