On Thursday 15 January 2015, Nottingham Means Business (NMB) had the pleasure of hosting Sylvia Dunmore from UKTI who is Head of Trade and the Central Co-ordination Unit for Germany, based in Düsseldorf.
The purpose of the round table event was to understand and debate how Nottingham and Nottinghamshire can further build on already strong links with Germany.
NMB has a driven and active German Interest Group, with representation from Invest in Nottingham and the business community and present at the event were representatives from Invest in Nottingham, Geldards LLP, UKTI, INIT, AST Language Services, Ashton Bond Gigg, MD Advisory and Retail Assist Ltd.
Kindly hosted by Geldards LLP and chaired by Sam Metcalf from East Midlands Business Link, some of the key findings included:
In building relationships with Germany, it’s important that civic and business engagement work together and present a united front.
Nottingham is twinned with Karlsruhe and other cities across Germany also have twinning arrangements (e.g. Düsseldorf with Reading). Other twinning arrangements, don’t preclude our ability to do business with these areas, particularly if we consider alternative routes in e.g. via universities, trade missions or sector-to-sector engagement through trade fairs.
Export led FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is extremely important – promoting trade one way has a natural consequence of encouraging investment the other way.
Language should never be a barrier to doing business with Germany. A willingness to travel overseas will be welcomed by German businesses. We could do more however, to promote German language education locally. Foreign languages taught in schools could focus on local trade links over what has traditionally been taught.
Digital exports are just as important as goods. Berlin is a big data city and the biggest digital fair in Germany takes place in Cologne. Our data and gaming offering in Nottingham is strong and Berlin could be an interesting and rewarding place to build links.
Through our Interest Groups, sector-to-sector engagement across international borders is possible and our German Interest Group as part of the plan for 2015-16 will look at how this strength can best be utilised.
The political backdrop in the form of the general election and whether the UK will remain in Europe or not is a concern for Germany – stability is key. The UK is Germany’s third largest export market after the US and France and Germany is the U.K.’s second largest trading partner after the US.
Finally advice was given on how to move forwards in building stronger links with Germany, which included:
- Do it – go there, make the first step – be prepared to meet them halfway.
- Be well prepared for your first meeting – Germans love detail and will expect the same from you.
- Follow up rapidly on meetings and new relationships built.
- Loyalty and trust are extremely important – once you’re in, you’re in.
If your business trades with Germany or is a German owned business based in Nottingham or Nottinghamshire and you would like further information on NMB’s German Interest Group, please contact Simon Gray at simon.gray@nottinghammeansbusiness.com