Forging ties in India
Sometimes culture change is startling. 24 hours ago I was in deep snow in the upper Connecticut valley in New Hampshire, -18c and the car stuck in a snow drift. Now I am in Mumbai and it's 28c, the sun …
Export Markets
The UK's rubbish
I'm surprised by the conscious, obvious, effort that UK companies are taking to reduce their carbon footprint. It's everywhere and it has changed so much even though I've only been gone a year.
China - part 4
I took the Maglev to Shanghai airport this morning. At 430km/hr it was a symbol of China’s self-confidence, a celebration of innovation and a good illustration of the phrase, “if you don’t try, you won’t fail”. Of course some experiments will please some …
China - Part 3
How many cities of 7 million people, capital of an area of 90 million people, have you never heard of? Would you imagine HMG has no diplomatic representation there when we have to the Vatican, Luxembourg, Uruguay and Nepal)? Welcome …
China - part 2
Meetings are different in China. As leader of the delegation, I sit in an armchair side by side with my Chinese opposite number, making long interventions. So we don’t look at each other, we don’t spark off each other’s ideas, …
Back in Blighty
Posted by:
UKTI Australia New Zealand, Posted on:
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Categories:
Australia, Export, Financial Services
I left the UK a year and a month ago, to the day. And now I'm on my first business development visit (BDV) back in Blighty.
After a long flight, I land at Heathrow and, apart from the rain, spot the new Terminal 5 building. I'm taken aback by the sheer scale of glass in the building, and honoured by the fact that Lord Richard Rogers, the architect of this sustainable terminal, spoke less than 48 hours earlier in our boardroom back in Australia.
Visit to China - Part 1
Chinese infrastructure efficiency hits me as I arrived at Shanghai’s Pudong airport. The BA flight was over an hour late, so I had 20 minutes to get through quarantine and immigration, to change terminal, check in, go through security and find the right gate. At Heathrow this would have taken two hours minimum. The officials were helpful, the system worked, the new China.
Reflections on a great visit
On the plane home overnight. Will be back in the house at about 6pm on Saturday. My wife complaining that every other weekend I lose a day to travel and half a day to papers. I say it's part of …
On route to South America
The best preparation for long haul travel is exercise and no caffeine or alcohol – particularly so for a full six day schedule visiting three markets in the vast continent of South America. So Sunday was a day of vigorous …
Shared knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch
Bikram Yoga, for those not familiar with forms of water torture, is a series of 26 yoga positions performed in a room heated to over 140 degrees F with extreme humidity. I’m sitting in our office in Delray Beach, Fl, …