November 9-13; what a week it was! Nationally, we saw the launch of the new ‘Exporting is Great’ campaign, which has seen a host of mainstream TV and digital media messages capturing the excitement and opportunities of exporting. For us in the East of England, this gave us the perfect platform to start the week and hold our showcase ‘Explore Export’ event at the fantastic Newmarket racecourse.
The team were out and about on the Sunday, busy welcoming 70 commercial officers and experts from all around the globe. On Monday we saw over 300 businesses hold more than 800 1-2-1 sessions, learning about the opportunities to grow internationally.
We were joined at Newmarket by more than 20 partner organisations from the private and public sectors, who put on a brilliant showcase of the joined-up support that we can offer businesses in our region. The campaign and event captured the imagination of our regional press, and with three radio and two regional TV reporting slots during the day it certainly kept us busy with good, positive messages.
And it didn’t stop there; from Newmarket we rolled on through a week packed full of events and seminars. Businesses learnt about markets ranging from Germany to Colombia, about high-growth start-up techniques, and how to finding agents and distributors, and we worked closely with our partners to make these events as wide reaching as possible. By the end of the week we’d seen hundreds of businesses and I hope enthused many of them to get out there and take more regional products and services overseas.
It’s been a real team effort and I’m very grateful for all of the hard work behind the scenes to bring everything together. At a time when some of the global events of the week have been truly tragic, it’s good to remember that for so many the focus remains on doing good, positive things. For our part, that’s what we want to focus on as we head towards Christmas and the New Year.
Visit the Exporting is GREAT website for export opportunities, practical support and inspiration for UK companies who want to grow their business through export