BRIEFING

LONDON 2012 GAMES TO CREATE £1BN BUSINESS BOOST

UKTI realignment for growth LONDON 2012

OMPANIES from around the world will be able to meet and do business during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as part of a series of Government-backed events, run by UK Trade & Investment.

C

An innovative programme of networking opportunities, conferences, summits, seminars and face-to-face meetings for UK and international businesses will take place. They include a Global Investment

Conference attended by 200 fi nancial and business leaders on the eve of the Games on 26 July, plus a host of Global Business Summits that will run to the end of the Paralympic Games on 7 September. Ministers will support sector summits,

providing the opportunity to engage with UK Government at the highest level. It is believed that, over time, the programme of events will generate more than £1bn of revenue for UK businesses.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This summer’s Olympics will put the eyes of the world on Britain as we host not just an unparalleled sporting spectacle, but also a chance for companies from across the globe to interact and do business here in the UK. “A wide range of British companies will be involved alongside the world’s leading business fi gures in this exciting programme of events, putting the UK at the forefront of efforts to resolve the economic challenges that face us all. We are working hard to make

sure that the whole country can seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

BRITISH BUSINESS CLUB Earlier this year, UK Trade & Investment launched the British Business Club, another important element of the Government’s Olympic programme of activity to deliver an economic legacy from the Games. The British Business Club aims to bring together UK and overseas businesses to network, identify opportunities and develop partnerships. Companies can register online for free at www.britishbusinessclub.org or follow daily news on Twitter @BritBizClub During the Paralympic Games, up to 300 of the world’s most exciting new businesses will be invited to participate in the StartUp Games event. Hosted in Tech City, this will give entrepreneurs the chance to share in the Olympic experience, enjoy the facilities of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the innovative culture of Tech City. It will also enhance their drive to be recognised among the world’s highest-potential start-ups. The Tech City Investment Organisation will organise the StartUp Games, working alongside partners such as StartUp Britain and the Olympic Park Legacy Company. The initiative will allow new UK start-ups the chance to learn from some of the best from around the world, and provide the fi nalists with the support they might need to bring their businesses to Tech City.

UK Trade & Investment chief executive Nick Baird has outlined key challenges for the organisation as it realigns itself to improve its reach to customers and the impact on their business success. Teams have been aligned around the different types of opportunities available to companies; separating inward investment from support available to British exporters, which includes regional support to British SMEs and mid-sized businesses as well as playing a strategic role, helping companies win high value opportunities overseas. The next issue of springboard will cover the realignment in more detail.

Report predicts accelerated global growth from 2014

UK businesses will see international trade growth accelerate from 2014, according to new research from HSBC. Its Global Connections trade forecast predicts that international businesses will recover more rapidly and earlier than previously expected and estimates that over the next 15 years, the UK is set to increase its international business activity by around 60 per cent. The forecast also predicts exceptional sector growth through demand from emerging exports in oil and gas – including platform technology and shipping – automotive (with exports to China set to grow by 15.1 per cent and to Russia by 6.62 per cent over the next fi ve years) and medicine.

fastfacts

THERE ARE 10,000 MID-SIZED BUSINESSES (MSBs), REPRESENTING 0.2 PER CENT OF ALL UK FIRMS